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The port of Rotterdam recorded its best quarterly bunker sales results since the second quarter (Q2) of 2016 between July and September.

Europe's leading bunker port managed to beat the results of the previous four quarters with overall sales of marine fuels and lubricants of 2,501,962 cubic metres (cbm).

In a year-on-year (YoY) comparison, the figure was up 81,490 cbm, or 3.4 percent, on the 2,420,472 cbm sold in Q3 2016. Quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), the result was an improvement of 7,950 cbm, or 0.3 percent.

The volume of marine fuel and lubricants sold between January and September amounted to 7,471,440 cbm, which was a fall of 192,502 cbm, or 2.5 percent on the 7,663,942 cbm sold during the first nine months of 2016.

As a result, if in Q4 Rotterdam is unable to achieve its best quarter since Q1 2016 with sales of just over 2.674 million cbm, the port will record its worst calendar year of the current decade.

Sales of fuel oil during the quarter, meanwhile, were 2,107,967 cbm, whilst volumes of MGO, MDO and marine lubricants were 325,324 cbm, 44,645 cbm and 24,026 cbm respectively.

The fuel oil result was the best quarter since Q2 2016, while the MGO figure was the lowest in almost three years - since Q4 2014.