World News
Global Q1 VLSFO Off-Spec Rate Declined From Q4: Verifuel
The share of VLSFO samples found to be off-specification declined from Q4's high in the first quarter, but remained above levels seen this time last year, according to Bureau Veritas bunker monitoring unit Verifuel.
About 2.1% of the VLSFO samples analysed by Verifuel in the first quarter of 2023 were found to be off-specification, a company representative told Ship & Bunker on Wednesday. The figure was down from 2.3% in the previous quarter and up from 1.7% in the first quarter of 2022.
Within Q1 the off-spec rate was at its highest in February, at 2.2%, with the level in January and March reaching 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively.
Quality problems may have declined somewhat with a falling bunker price delivering less incentive for blenders to compromise on quality to deliver lower prices.
The global average viscosity of all VLSFO samples the company analysed was 152 cSt in the first quarter, down from 157 cSt the previous quarter. Average density fell marginally to 942 kg/m3 from 942.5 kg/m3 the previous quarter.