Global bunker hub demand gained 3.1% Y/Y in Q1 - S&B Market Survey
Q1 volumes see 2.2% fall from Q4 2022
Demand at key marine fuel hubs advanced on a yearly basis but slipped on the quarter in the first three months of 2023, according to the latest market survey of bunker sales volumes in 17 leading global locations, Ship & Bunker reports.
As in previous quarters, Ship & Bunker and consultancy 2060 Marine Energy surveyed bunker market participants around the world alongside official data where available and found an average climb of 3.1% in volumes in the first quarter from the same period of 2022.
The year-on-year advance compares with a 0.6% year-on-year drop in the fourth quarter of 2022. Q1 volumes sequentially were 2.25% lower than in Q4 2022. The survey covers about 80% of the global demand total shown by official IMO data.
"I feel we may be seeing the calm before the ton miles and shadow fleet operations," Adrian Tolson, 2050 Marine Energy Tolson, owner of 2050 Marine Energy, told Ship & Bunker on Thursday.
This is now due largely to a slump in container demand, amid wider global economic uncertainty. This is partly being offset by strength in tanker markets.
Methodology
As with the previous surveys the areas covered by the survey are Singapore, the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub, Fujairah, the US Gulf, South Korea, Russia, the Gibraltar Strait, Hong Kong, Panama, Zhoushan, Japan, New York, West Africa, South Africa, the Canary Islands, Los Angeles/Long Beach and Turkey. Data is sourced from a combination of market participants and official records.
