Med Port Relies on Regular Traffic to Stay Bunker Demand

by Julian Macqueen, Senior Editor, Ship & Bunker
Wednesday June 17, 2020

The southern Italian port of Augusta has seen resilient demand for bunkers during the COVID-19 pandemic, market sources say.

Much of the port's regular traffic comprises tanker calls related to the Algerian state-owned oil firm Sonatrach while spot demand makes up a smaller share of demand.

"Most of our business comes from this regular traffic," a bunker player active in the port told Ship & Bunker

Even so, a ballpark figure for demand shrinkage during the pandemic would be 20%, the source added.

Augusta can expect to shift around a quarter of a million tonnes of bunker fuel annually.  It remains to be seen whether it will get anywhere near that figure in 2020.

Bunker Energy, which supplies bunkers at Augusta, is set to deploy its new barge in the port.