Sales of marine fuel at Europe's largest bunker port, Rotterdam, rose by 8.2 percent in 2022, according to data provided by Port of Rotterdam Authority and analysed by Bunker Index.

• Product sales covering HSFO, VLSFO, ULSFO, MDO, MGO, methanol and LNG amounted to 10.65m tonnes last year as bunker volumes rose by 807,651 tonnes, up from 9.837m tonnes in 2021.
• It is the third year in a row that marine fuel sales have increased at the ARA port, with last year's figure 22.5 percent higher than the total recorded in 2019 — when the most recent annual dip was recorded.

Bio blends climb: The most significant gain was seen in sales of bio-blended VLSFO, which jumped 485,367 tonnes, or 324.6 percent, to 634,909 tonnes.

• Overall, demand for biofuel blends rose from 301,000 tonnes to 790,000 tonnes — a year-on-year improvement of 489,372 tonnes, or 162.4 percent.

HSFO and MGO in double figures: Non-bio HSFO volume grew 428,442 tonnes, or 16.0 percent, to 3.103m tonnes.

• Demand for MGO rose 151,468 tonnes, or 15.1 percent, to 1.152m tonnes.
• Meanwhile, LNG sales of 328,089 cubic metres (cbm) in 2022 represented a YoY decline of 276,131 cbm, or 45.7 percent.

Rotterdam Bunker Sales: 2018-22

Methodology: In order to calculate an overall total for all fuel grades, a conversion factor of 0.4049 was used by Bunker Index to convert LNG sales — provided in cubic metres by Port of Rotterdam Authority — into metric tonnes.