Demand for most conventional fuels backtracks slowly

HSFO comeback with doubling of scrubber-fitted fleet

Consistent lack of grey methanol demand

Changes in Rotterdam conventional fuel sales between the fourth quarter 2024 and the first quarter 2025:

• HSFO sales up by 49,000 mt to 829,000 mt
• VLSFO sales down by 22,000 mt to 789,000 mt
• ULSFO sales down by 7,000 mt to 187,000 mt
• MGO sales down by 3,000 mt to 393,000 mt
• LNG sales down by 15,000 mt to 104,000 mt
• Grey methanol sales remained unchanged at nil

Rotterdam's HSFO sales increased in the first quarter of this year, while sales of other conventional fuels fell slightly on the quarter, according to the Port of Rotterdam's bunker sales data.

Rotterdam suppliers delivered a total of 2.30 million mt of conventional fuels in the first quarter. That was roughly steady with the fourth quarter of 2024, but a 7% increase compared to the same period last year, when the supply amounted to 2.16 million mt.

HSFO was the only fuel that saw demand increase, gaining by 6% on the quarter to 829,000 mt. Demand for HSFO surpassed that of VLSFO for the first time since 2019, when the global sulphur cap was still 3.50% and HSFO was the go-to grade.

HSFO has made a comeback as more scrubber-fitted vessels have come into operation. When IMO 2020 came into force on 1 January 2020, there were around 3,100 vessels with scrubbers in the global fleet, according to DNV data. Last year, that count had risen to nearly 6,000 vessels, and this year it is projected to top 6,400 vessels.

On the opposite end, LNG clocked the steepest decline at 13%, with 104,000 mt sold this last quarter compared to the 118,000 mt sold in the last quarter of 2024. This could be attributed to rising gas prices and gas-to-oil switching for dual-fuel vessels.

Sales of ULSFO, VLSFO and MGO saw 3%, 3% and 1% declines, respectively.

Grey methanol has not featured in the port's sales figures since 2022, when some test stems took place.

By Samantha Shaji

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