Sales of conventional oil-based marine fuels and their bio-blended equivalents in Rotterdam fell 26.7% year on year to 1.75m tonnes in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
The total, which excludes LNG, biomethanol and bioethanol, was 4% above the first-quarter level. Conventional fuel oil and distillate sales dropped 32.1% to 1.51m tonnes. VLSFO fell 47.8% to 354,448 tonnes, HSFO declined 23% to 704,637 tonnes, ULSFO dropped 45.5% to 123,190 tonnes, MGO decreased 13.5% to 266,570 tonnes and MDO was down 35% at 64,777 tonnes.
Biofuel-blend sales rose 45.2% year on year and 129.3% quarter on quarter to 239,875 tonnes, the highest quarterly volume since the 262,635 tonnes recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
The overall decline reflected bunker volumes shifting to competing ports, the Netherlands’ implementation of the European Union’s RED III renewable-energy rules and operational changes linked to regulation and policy. Bunker-price volatility, energy-market uncertainty and changes in global trade routes also affected purchasing volumes and refuelling locations.
Total Rotterdam bunker volumes fell 25.1% in the first half of 2026, with fossil fuel oil down 28.3%, while alternative-fuel sales increased 28%. LNG bunker sales reached 273,021 cubic metres in the second quarter, up 31.5% year on year. Bio-LNG deliveries totalled 7,506 cubic metres, down from 15,260 cubic metres in the first quarter. Biomethanol sales rose to 2,845 tonnes from 996 tonnes quarter on quarter but remained below the 3,958 tonnes sold a year earlier. Rotterdam also recorded its first bioethanol bunker sales, totalling 1,025 tonnes.
The quarter included an ethanol-methanol fuel trial on Eco Levant involving X-Press Feeders and METHANAVE, and a larger ethanol bunkering trial by A.P. Moller-Maersk involving the dual-fuel feeder Laura Mærsk.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority is a Dutch public limited company responsible for managing, operating and developing Rotterdam’s port and industrial complex and for the safe and efficient handling of shipping. It is owned by the Municipality of Rotterdam, with 70.83%, and the Dutch state, with 29.17%.