Alkagesta’s first year in Singapore sees rapid bunker volume growth amid market volatility

Mithat Çiftçioğlu, Marine Fuels Distribution Director at Alkagesta Asia, reflects on the company’s first year in Singapore — from building infrastructure and counterparty relationships from scratch, to navigating one of the most complex periods in recent marine fuels market history, to what comes next for the operation across the region: 

When Alkagesta established its Singapore hub in 2025, the company had no track record in one of the world’s most competitive marine fuels markets. A year later, the operation is delivering approximately 250,000 metric tonnes per month — around 5% of Singapore’s marine fuels market — and generating over a billion dollars in first-half revenue. Mithat Çiftçioğlu, Marine Fuels Distribution Director at Alkagesta Asia, has led that build from the ground up.

“When we started in Singapore, we had no brand recognition in this market. Every relationship had to be earned. That is actually a healthy way to build a business — you learn very quickly who your real counterparts are.”

Infrastructure First

The temptation for any new market entrant is to trade first and build later. Alkagesta took the opposite approach. Before chasing volumes, the team secured storage capacity at Horizon Terminal, developed a distribution position in the short market, and invested in the operational and finance infrastructure that would allow the business to scale responsibly. As Mithat puts it, Singapore is a market where availability matters as much as price — and focusing early on building a reliable distribution position in the short market was precisely where trust would be built or lost.

That decision proved well-timed. As Western arbitrage inflows tightened through 2026 and delivered VLSFO premiums spiked to multi-month highs, the early infrastructure investment meant the team was positioned to serve clients at precisely the moments the market was most stretched.

A Year That Tested Everyone

It would be difficult to design a more challenging set of conditions in which to launch a marine fuels operation. Persian Gulf transit friction, elevated dirty tanker freight rates, and acute prompt availability constraints characterised much of the year — a market environment that simultaneously tested commercial relationships and risk frameworks. For Mithat, that pressure was also an opportunity: “The past year has been one of the most complex periods I have seen in marine fuels. When freight rates spike and arbitrage closes, the market tests your relationships and your risk framework at the same time. We came through it better than we went in.”

The weight of that period is something Mithat remembers precisely. When the conflict broke out on 28 February 2026 — a Sunday — he was at home with his wife. “I told her it was going to be very challenging for the next month and asked her to be a bit more patient with me. She supported me, as she has done for the past 25 years, and I have to give her credit for everything achieved.”

Coming through it better is a measured way of describing what the numbers show. Delivered volumes of 1.65 million metric tonnes in the first half of 2026 represented 104% growth over the full year 2025. Revenue grew 171% over the same period — the result, as Mithat describes it, of having the right infrastructure, the right team, and being willing to take considered positions when others were stepping back.

The Bigger Picture

The Singapore hub has always been conceived as more than a marine fuels supply operation. For Alkagesta — a company trading petroleum products, biofuels, fertilizers, and steel across approximately 48 countries — Singapore is the gateway through which the company’s broader APAC ambitions will be pursued.

“Singapore is not just a marine fuels hub for us — it is our gateway into the broader APAC region. The relationships we have built here open doors across the region that would take years to develop from anywhere else.”

The first year was about proving the concept. The next is about expanding it. “With strong dedication from our team, we will strive to increase our footprint and expand into other ports across the region” — a commitment that points toward a Singapore operation growing not just in volume, but in geographic reach across Asia.

Related: Interview: Alkagesta navigates risk from bunkering ops during turbulent times

Photo credit: Alkagesta
Published: 19 October, 2026