Biofuel Bunker Snapshot: Rotterdam's B30-VLSFO Price Holds Steady on the Week
Key Takeaways
- •Rotterdam's B30-VLSFO (POMEME) price was unchanged over the past week even as the port's conventional fuel price rose $40/mt.
- •Prima Markets assessed POMEME and UCOME barge prices each up $137/mt, reaching $2,017/mt and $1,947/mt respectively.
- •Singapore's B30-VLSFO (UCOME) price increased $45/mt to $1,051/mt, supported by a $62/mt rise in conventional VLSFO.
- •Taiwanese state-owned CPC will begin supplying B24-VLSFO at the Port of Kaohsiung from October.
- •A GCMD study found that blending FAME-based biofuel with VLSFO or HSFO can push viscosity outside the validated operating range of mass flow meters.
Rotterdam's B30-VLSFO (POMEME) price has remained unchanged over the past week, despite a $40/mt gain in the Dutch port's conventional fuel price over the same period.
Europe
Rotterdam's B30-LSMGO (POMEME) price has gained $38/mt, supported by a $100/mt increase in the port's conventional LSMGO price.
POMEME and UCOME barge prices assessed by Prima Markets have both risen by $137/mt over the past week, bringing them to $2,017/mt and $1,947/mt, respectively. Higher feedstock prices can affect delivered biofuel bunker pricing because these blends track both the underlying marine fuel and the bio-component used to make them.
Rotterdam's pure B100 bunker price has declined by $72/mt to $1,304/mt.
Aveiro's B30-LSMGO (UCOME) price has increased by $110/mt to $1,561/mt.
Asia
Singapore's B30-VLSFO (UCOME) price has gained $45/mt in the past week to $1,051/mt. The port's conventional VLSFO price has increased by $62/mt, possibly providing support to the biofuel blend price.
Prima's assessed price for Chinese UCOME cargoes, which make up a considerable share of Singapore's biofuel feedstock, has moved up by $5/mt to $1,195/mt.
In other biofuel bunker news, Taiwanese state-owned fuel supplier CPC will start supplying B24-VLSFO at the Port of Kaohsiung from October, adding another regional outlet for bunker buyers looking at lower-carbon fuel options.
A study by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) found that blending FAME-based biofuel with residual marine fuel grades such as VLSFO and HSFO can push their viscosity outside the validated operating range of mass flow meters (MFMs), a technical point relevant to ship operators and bunker suppliers handling these blends.
Source: By Nachiket Tekawade, ENGINE,
