Business

JLC China Bunker Oil Market Monthly Report (May, 2020)

Singapore bunker fuel market was hit by the bankruptcy of Hin Leong Trading in May and some traders shifted focus to Chinese ports, adding to high bunker demand.

Published

4 years ago

June 12, 2020

Admin

JLC May Bonded Bunker Fuel Sales in ZhouShan

Beijing-based commodity market information provider JLC Network Technology Co. on Thursday (11 June) shared its JLC China Bunker monthly report for May with Manifold Times through an exclusive arrangement:

JLC China Bunker Market Monthly Report (May, 2020)
Highlights

Demand and Supply

Bunker Oil Demand

Bonded bunker fuel sales stay high in May on improving demand

In May, China’s bonded bunker fuel sales were about 1.45 million mt, JLC data showed. The bonded bunker fuel demand was buoyed by recovering shipping demand and advantageous prices. Countries took actions to shore up economy upon easing COVID-19 in May. More ships were incentivized to refuel at Chinese ports amid low prices of low-sulfur bunker fuel supplied by domestic refiners. In addition, bunker fuel markets in Singapore were hit by the bankruptcy of Hin Leong Trading and some traders shifted focus to Chinese ports for bunker fuel oil consumption. As a result, sales of bonded bunker fuel in May stayed high. Chimbusco and Sinopec sold about 525,000 mt and 678,000 mt of bonded bunker fuel, respectively. New enterprises in the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone sold 136,000 mt. Bonded bunker fuel sales were about 79,000 mt for China ChangJiang Bunker (Sinopec) and 42,000 mt for SinoBunker.

China’s bonded bunker fuel sales surged to 1.56 million mt in April, up by 41.26%% month on month and up by 56.11% year on year, according to GAC data. Major Chinese ports saw low-sulfur bunker fuel prices equivalent to or lower than those in Singapore amid domestic mass production and short distance of supply. With more shares in the market, China’s bonded bunker fuel sales went up in April. PetroChina ramped up exports of low-sulfur bunker fuel oil by direct supply from its refineries, and thus topped Chimbusco in bonded bunker fuel sales, ranking the first. Specifically, bonded bunker fuel sales were 544,600 mt for Chimbusco, 70,400 mt for Sinopec, 75,500 mt for China ChangJiang Bunker (Sinopec), 40,500 mt for SinoBunker and 130,000 mt for new enterprises in the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Domestic bunker fuel demand grows in May

Domestic bunker fuel demand rose in May. With temperature rising and coronavirus-related protection loosened, bulk demand continued to rally, among which demand for coal, metal ore and grain recovered markedly. Freight capacity was tight in some routes. End-users who shut down their operation before began to purchase bunker fuel. Driven by improving coastal transport demand, bunker fuel demand went up. The demand for domestic-trade heavy bunker fuel was about 300,000 mt in the month, up by 40,000 mt or 15.38% from the previous month. The demand for light bunker fuel was 105,000 mt in May, up by 20,000 mt from April on rising demand amid stable trades when fishers made purchases mainly based on needs.

Bunker Oil Supply

Bonded bunker fuel imports rise 37.76% in April

China’s bonded bunker fuel imports were 1,029,400 mt in April, a rise of 37.76% month on month and a drop of 22.43% year on year, GAC data showed. Bonded bunker fuel traders stocked up amid low prices resulted from the collapse of international crude and high inventories at some ports in April. Driven by large purchases, China’s bonded bunker fuel imports were higher in April than the previous month.

Specifically, the largest import source for China was Malaysia with 529,000 mt of bunker fuel, followed by South Korea with 179,000 mt. The imports were 178,500 mt from Singapore and 60,000 mt from Japan. Besides, there were imports of 37,500 mt and 44,000 mt from Russia and Indonesia, respectively.

Domestic blended bunker fuel supply grows in May

Chinese blended producers supplied a total of around 330,000 mt of heavy bunker fuel in May, a rise of 30,000 mt or 10% month on month, JLC data showed. With the effective control of COVID-19 in May, coastal bulk demand turned better along with a gradual recovery of the economy. Meanwhile, Some blended producers made more purchases when blended costs rebounded. However, blended producers in Northeast China halted operation on a lack of fuel oil invoices. Therefore, domestic trade bunker fuel supply was still below the normal level of last year, despite a month-on-month rise. Light bunker fuel supply was about 110,000 mt, up by 10,000 mt from April. Despite the surge of international crude prices, the improvement in light bunker fuel supply was not significant due to lackluster fisher demand.

JLC May Arrical of Imported Fuel Oil Cargoes

Bunker Profits, Prices

Domestic Bunker Price by Region 2020

JLC May China Bonded Bunker Fuel Prices 2019 2020

JLC May China BUnnker Blendinng Profit by region 2019 2020

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JLC Network Technology Co., Ltd is recognised as the leading information provider in China. We specialise in providing transparent, high-value. authoritative market intelligence and professional analysis in commodity markets. Our expertise covers oil, gas. coal, chemical, plastic, rubber. fertilizer and metal industry, etc.

JLC China Bunker Oil Market Monthly Report is published by JLC Network Technology Co., Ltd every month on China bunker market’s, demand, supply, margin, freight index. forecast and so on. The report provides full-scale & concise insight into China’s bunker oil market.

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Published: 12 June, 2020

Business

Shell MGO bunker heist: Bunker clerk pleads guilty to helping Sentek acquire misappropriated fuel

Wong Wai Meng, who received more than USD 286,000 from Sentek Marine & Trading for his assistance, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of intentionally helping the firm acquire the misappropriated marine gas.

Published

7 hours ago

December 2, 2024

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A bunker clerk, Wong Wai Meng, who received more than USD 286,000 (SGD 384,681) from Singapore-based Sentek Marine & Trading (Sentek) for his assistance, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of intentionally helping the company acquire misappropriated marine gas oil, The Straits Times reported on Friday (29 November).

The 58-year-old Singaporean was employed at the Sentek when he assisted in acquiring more than 28,000 metric tonnes (mt) of the misappropriated fuel worth USD 13.58 million (SGD 18.26 million).

Wong committed the offences over 46 occasions between August 2014 and December 2017.

Wong is among the three bunker clerks previously employed by Sentek, who were charged for offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

Another bunker clerk among the three charged, Wong Kuin Wah, 61, was sentenced to seven years and six months’ jail on 18 November for his role in misappropriating more than 27,000 tonnes of gas oil worth around USD 12.8 million (SGD 17.2 million).

The third individual who was charged, Boo Pu Wen, reportedly passed away in July 2023 and had his charges abated following his death, meaning Boo’s court proceedings over his 19 charges at the time came to an end.

Former Shell employees, who were key members of a group who dishonestly misappropriated fuel from Shell Pulau Bukom, were sentenced to jail in court earlier.

Earlier coverage of developments by Manifold Times regarding the Shell MGO bunker heist can be found below:

Photo credit: Katrin Bolovtsova
Published: 2 December, 2024

Biofuel

Singapore: GCMD introduces new technique for FAME bio bunker fuel fingerprinting

Fingerprinting identifies feedstock origins of FAME-based biofuels used in shipping industry; can be used as a potential tool to detect fraud in marine fuel supply chains and ensure biofuel authenticity.

Published

7 hours ago

December 2, 2024

Admin

Singapore: GCMD introduces new technique for FAME bio bunker fuel fingerprinting

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) on Monday (2 December) released its latest report, presenting a new technique that creates a fingerprint for Fatty Acid Methyl Esters(FAME) bio bunker fuels.

This fingerprint identifies the feedstock origins of the FAME-based biofuels used in the shipping industry.

GCMD said FAME fingerprinting is needed as the shipping sector is increasingly using biofuels, such as FAME, to reduce its GHG emissions. With that, concerns have arisen regarding the legitimacy of biofuels and whether they are truly sustainable.

Industry bodies are seeing a rising number of cases mislabelling biofuels purported to be made from recycled oils and fats, while suspicions persist that they might be produced from cheaper and less sustainable virgin oils.

“To address these concerns, FAME fingerprinting can be used as a potential tool to detect fraud in marine fuel supply chains and ensure biofuel authenticity. By providing a physical validation method that complements existing certification schemes, FAME fingerprinting can help justify the green premium with genuine environmental benefits and safeguard the integrity of marine fuels supply chain,” GCMD said.

FAME fingerprinting is based on the principle that the fatty acid profile of FAME is unique to its feedstock and can be preserved during feedstock transesterification to produce FAME. The "fingerprint" can then be compared against a database of known fatty acid profiles to identify the feedstock origin.

GCMD worked with VPS who modified existing fuel testing methods to carry out sample analyses using a gas chromatograph with flame-ionisation detection, an instrument commonly found in fuel test laboratories.

The analysis takes about an hour, comparable to the turnaround time for current marine fuel quality testing in the supply chain.

“We have tested this method on a variety of FAME samples from different suppliers, including virgin oils, used cooking oils, palm oil mill effluent, beef tallow and food waste and were able to identify the feedstock origins for each sample,” GCMD added.

Manifold Times previously reported Captain Rahul Choudhuri, President, Strategic Partnerships at marine fuels testing company VPS, forecasting the use of finger printing technology today will likely establish a blueprint of how future alternative bunker fuels’ feedstocks are authenticated.

Captain Choudhuri said this when he gave an update of VPS’ biofuels finger printing trials with GCMD.

Note: The full report, titled ‘Rapid forensic analysis of FAME-based biofuels: Potential use of its fingerprint as a fraud detection tool’, can be downloaded here.

Photo credit: Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation
Published: 2 December, 2024

Methanol

PLAGEN to produce and supply green methanol bunker fuel with Latvia plant

Korean firm’s MoU with AE Risinājumi will see construction of Latvia’s first commercial-scale green methanol production plant, which will supply green methanol to ships in EU’s maritime fleet.

Published

7 hours ago

December 2, 2024

Admin

PLAGEN to produce and supply green methanol bunker fuel with Latvia plant

South Korean clean energy firm PLAGEN on Friday (29 November) signed an MOU with Latvian company, AE Risinājumi, for the production of green methanol in Latvia at the “2024 Latvia-Korea Business Forum” hosted by the President of Latvia.

The agreement will result in the construction of Latvia's first commercial-scale green methanol production plant, which will supply green methanol to ships in the EU's maritime fleet, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transportation.

PLAGEN's MoU aims to produce 20,000 metric tonnes (mt) of green methanol per year and will begin feasibility studies in the first half of 2025, and full-scale production will begin in 2028.

With 53% of Latvia's land area covered by forests, timber production and wood processing make a significant contribution to Latvia’s economic production, which generates a large amount of forest residues and wood wastes. In addition, Latvia also has an abundance and low price of renewable electricity from wind power.

Latvia is one of the most competitive countries in the European Union, as it can produce clean methanol at a competitive price by using abundant wood waste as a raw material and renewable electricity from cheap wind power.

The use of abundant forest residues and wood wastes as a feedstock and cheap renewable electricity from wind power makes it possible to produce green methanol with a competitive price, making Latvia is one of the most competitive countries in the EU.

In the European Union, the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) will come into effect in 2025, requiring shipping companies to purchase carbon credits for their greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, the EU is implementing FuelEU Maritime, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2% below the 2020 average by 2025 and 80% by 2050. This is expected to result in an energy transition to green methanol.

In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a revised strategy that calls for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships to net-zero by or around 2050, and plans to introduce full-scale regulations from 2027, and shipping companies have begun ordering methanol-powered ships fueled by green methanol, a carbon-neutral fuel.

“We expect to start producing green methanol in Latvia in 2028, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from EU maritime transport vessels and contribute significantly to the revitalization of the Latvian economy and national energy security,” said John Kyung, CEO of PLAGEN.

In November 2024, PLAGEN completed the purchase of an industrial complex and received a government permit for the construction of the country's first green methanol plant in Dongjeom Industrial Complex in Taebaek City, Gangwon-do.

The project, which will produce 10,000 mt per year, is scheduled to begin construction in the first half of 2025 and begin production in the second half of 2027.

Photo credit: PLAGEN
Published: 2 December, 2024