Maersk Bunker Consumption Drops to Lowest Level Since 2020 COVID Lull

Maersk's bunker consumption dropped significantly at the end of last year. Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: AP Moller-Maersk

Container shipping and logistics firm AP Moller-Maersk, one of the world's largest users of bunker fuel, saw its marine fuels consumption drop to the lowest level since the COVID-related slowdown in early 2020 at the end of last year.

The firm reported 2.55 million mt of bunker consumption in the three months to December 31 in its earnings report this week, down by 9.2% on the year and the lowest level since the second quarter of 2020. For 2022 as a whole the firm used 10.58 million mt of marine fuels, down from 11.09 million mt the previous year.

Apart from the first and second quarters of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted global shipping, the company has not reported demand this low since the second quarter of 2017.

The fall can partly be attributed to a slowdown in global container demand amid expectations of recession-driven weakness in trade. Maersk said it expected to see global container shipping demand fall by as much as 2.5% this year.

At the IBIA Convention in Houston in November panellists suggested bunker demand from the container segment was down by as much as 20% on the year in some areas.

The company's fuel efficiency worsened slightly last year with higher average speeds amid market strength earlier in 2022. Maersk used an average of 41.4g of marine fuel per TEU per nautical mile in 2022, up from 40.9 g/TEU*nm the previous year.

Maersk paid an average of $720/mt for its bunkers in the fourth quarter, up by 29.3% on the year. Ship & Bunker's G20-VLSFO Index of prices across 20 leading bunkering ports averaged $702.50/mt over the same three-month period, up by 16.9% on the year.