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Market sources in Australia have revealed that 180-centistoke (cst) product is set to be withdrawn from the Melbourne market in August.

From 1st August 2008, only 380-cst intermediate fuel oil will be made available to vessels calling at Melbourne. 180-cst product will be withdrawn from the market due to changes in customer requirements.

The Melbourne market is currently supported by two local refineries, ExxonMobil's 75,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Altona refinery and Shell's 130,000 bpd refinery in Geelong. Both local refiners also supply marine fuels and lubricants directly to clients in Melbourne.

The recent change in the buying habits of the local suppliers' principal clients is understood to be the main reason behind the decision to stop selling 180-cst in Melbourne. The larger shipping lines who tend to carry out a sizable percentage their bunker purchasing on a contract rather than spot basis have been choosing 380-cst as their preferred option.

News of the product withdrawal follows a sustained period of growth in the port of Melbourne. It is the largest container and general cargo port in Australia, handling approximately 27 percent of the nation's container trade.

The port set a new milestone last year as the first port in Australia to handle 2 million TEU in a twelve month period. In the twelve months to the end of April 2008 the number of containers handled by the port was calculated to be over 2.23 million TEU.