Strong Q4 Leaves Rotterdam 2022 Bunker Sales at Six-Year High

Rotterdam's conventional sales rose for a third consecutive year in 2022. Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: Port of Rotterdam

Bunker sales at the Port of Rotterdam jumped on both a yearly and sequential quarterly basis in the fourth quarter of 2022, leaving the Northwest European port's overall sales last year at a six-year high.

Total conventional sales reached 2.62 million mt in the three months to December 31, the port authority said in data published on its website on Thursday, up by 9.7% on the year and by 5.4% from the previous quarter. This figure excludes biofuel blends, LNG, methanol and lubricants.

That left Rotterdam's conventional sales total for 2022 at 9.72 million mt, up by 4.6% on the year and the most since 2016.

VLSFO sales gained 1.2% on the year to 1.02 million mt in the fourth quarter, HSFO jumped by 12.9% to 841,247 mt, ULSFO surged by 51.2% to 282,682 mt, MGO gained 22.8% to 297,388 mt and MDO lost 13.4% to 178,222 mt.

Of the conventional total in the fourth quarter VLSFO took up 39%, HSFO 32.1%, distillates 18.1% and ULSFO 10.8%. That compares with respective shares a year earlier of 43.7%, 28.8%, 18.7% and 7.8%.

For 2022 as a whole the shares were 39.7% VLSFO, 31.9% HSFO, 19.2% distillates and 9.2% ULSFO, compared with 43.7%, 28.8%, 18.8% and 8.8% respectively in 2021.

LNG sales continued to slump after last year's record gas prices. In Q4 Rotterdam's LNG sales were 34,412 m3, down by 63.6% on the year, and in 2022 overall the total dropped by 45.7% from 2021's level to 328,089 m3.

But biofuel sales continued to advance. In Q4 the port saw 261,079 mt of biofuel-fuel oil blend sales and 8,447 mt of biofuel-distillate blends, up by 42.3% and down by 8.8% on the year, respectively. In 2022 as a whole bio-fuel oil sales totalled 750,949 mt and bio-distillates 39,690 mt, up by 199.7% and down by 21.3% on the year respectively.

Rotterdam noted 1,500 mt of methanol sales last year, up from 250 mt a year earlier.