Recent market analyses indicate that the economic appeal of biofuels like B100 and liquefied biomethane (LBM) has diminished due to weaker pooling economics, impacting their competitiveness against conventional marine fuels. For example, the ENGINE-assessed FuelEU Maritime pooling values for B100 have fallen by $39/mt for EU-EU voyages and $19/mt for EU-nonEU voyages over the past week. This has led to a widening of B100's discount to LSMGO in Rotterdam by $8/mt to $461/mt, and a flip from a $10/mt premium to a $31/mt discount in Singapore.
Despite these shifts, B100 and LBM remain cheaper than LSMGO in Rotterdam, and B100 also holds this advantage in Singapore. However, their position relative to VLSFO has worsened. B100's premiums over VLSFO have widened by $5/mt to $52/mt in Rotterdam and by $61/mt to $322/mt in Singapore. Similarly, LBM's pooling values on EU-EU voyages have fallen by $54-63/mt, and while it remains cheaper than LSMGO for dual-fuel shipowners, the spread has narrowed by $99-108/mt to $458-624/mt.
Conventional fuel prices have seen mixed movements. In Rotterdam, conventional fuel prices gained $15-28/mt over the past week, with B100 itself rising by $20/mt. Singapore's HSFO and LSMGO prices increased by $34/mt and $69/mt respectively, while VLSFO declined by $33/mt. The OceanScore FuelEU pooling index saw a significant weekly drop of €12.85/mtCO2e ($15/mtCO2e) to €118.90/mtCO2e ($138/mtCO2e), further reducing the pooling benefits for B100 and LBM. Prompt supply for conventional marine fuels is tight in both Rotterdam and Singapore, with lead times ranging from 4 to 19 days depending on the grade and port.
