The Week in Alt Fuels: The ARA divide
The ARA bunker market appears to be diverging, with conventional fuel demand gravitating towards Antwerp while Rotterdam leads in both alternative fuel volumes and fuel diversity. Rotterdam’s conventional bunker market has come under pressure since the Netherlands implemented the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) earlier this year, with the port trailing Antwerp in conventional ...
The ARA bunker market is showing signs of divergence, with conventional fuel demand moving towards Antwerp while Rotterdam leads in alternative fuel volumes and diversity. The Netherlands' revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) in 2026 has pressured Rotterdam's conventional bunker market, which now trails Antwerp in volumes for two consecutive quarters.
The port attributes part of the decline to increased sustainability obligations on fuel suppliers, raising the cost of conventional bunker fuels and leading some shipowners to bunker elsewhere. Rotterdam's biofuel blend sales more than doubled from 105,000 metric tons in Q1 2026 to 240,000 metric tons in Q2, driven by improving economics compared to LSMGO amid higher fossil fuel prices during the Middle East war.
The port also saw ethanol bunker sales for the first time in Q2, at 1,000 metric tons. While Rotterdam's lead in alternative fuels may not be permanent, the port's large concentration of early-adopter shipowners, fuel suppliers, and demonstration projects makes it a logical location for testing emerging fuels. Meanwhile, Antwerp's bio-bunker sales grew from 21,000 metric tons to nearly 27,000 metric tons over the same period, but remained significantly lower than Rotterdam's volumes.
Written by urgent.news from Hellenic Shipping News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.