Germany Bunker Fuel Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Germany bunker fuel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 11% over the period of 2020-2025. The bunker fuel market in the region is mainly driven by the ever-rising marine transportation of essential commodities, implementation of the stricter environmental regulations driving the demand for cleaner bunker fuels, and the increase in the use of marine vessels for offshore oil and gas developments. However, the outbreak of COVID-19, leading to a global economic slowdown is likely to restrain the growth of the Germany bunker fuel market in the coming years.

Key Highlights

• The Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) is expected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period, owing to factors like IMO 2020 Regulations that came into effect from January 1st, 2020.
• Germany has always been a vital shipping nation and is one of the largest shipping countries in the European Union. Developing sea trade routes and rising international maritime trade may offer tremendous opportunities for marine fuel suppliers.
• Bulk Carrier vessel type is expected to dominate the bunker fuel market growth in the country owing to factors like an increase of the import of raw materials by the manufacturing sector in the country.

Key Market Trends

Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) to Witness Significant Demand

• Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) is expected to witness significant growth in the forecast period, owing to factors like IMO 2020 Regulations that came into effect on 1st January 2020, and rising environmental concerns over high greenhouse gases emissions from the marine sector.
• The demand for VLSFO saw a steady growth since 2019 and significant growth since January 2020, due to the IMO 2020 Regulations on sulfur content.
• Some of the major producers of bunker fuel have been investing in setting up a new production facility for low sulfur bunker fuel. For instance, in June 2020, the terminal operator HES International, started its production facility of very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) at the resurrected Wilhelmshaven refinery in Germany.
• The company had brought back online the vacuum distillation unit, bought in 2011, and converted into storage site, to produce VLSFO in time for IMO 2020. Also, due to the imposition of IMO 2020, the demand for HSFO is replaced by VLSFO, MGO, and new ships are expected to LNG fuel.
• Although the container port traffic reduced slightly in 2018, this value is expected to recover in the coming years owing to the growth in regional and international trade.
• Therefore, with the increase in the demand for cleaner fuel and the implementation of IMO 2020 Regulations, very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) is expected to rise significantly in the forecast period.

Bulk Carrier Vessel Type to Dominate the Market

• Bulk carrier vessel type is expected to witness significant growth in the country in the forecast period owing to factors like increased imports of raw material by the manufacturing sector in the country.
• Bulk carriers are used to transport unpackaged products in large quantities. It is suitable for carrying both liquid or particulate materials and are primarily used to transport products, such as grains, gravels, coal, fertilizers, iron ores, etc. A bulk carrier varies in size, depending upon the route of operation and the kind of weight that needs to be transported. Bulk carriers’ capacity ranges from 500 tons to 230,000 tons.
• Bulk carriers primarily use marine fuels with varying sulfur content. With the recent changes in IMO regulations, the bulk carrier manufacturers are planning to build bulk carriers with LNG as fuel. Existing carriers are expected to move towards lower sulfur content fuels like VLSFO or MGO with varying grades like DMA and DMZ, to comply and operate as per the international standards.
• The top exports of Germany are automobiles, vehicle parts, packaged medicaments, planes, helicopters, and chemicals, which require a significant amount of raw materials to be imported into the country.
• All of the above factors are expected to help the bulk carrier vessel type to witness significant growth in terms of bunker fuel during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The Germany bunker fuel market is partially fragmented. Some of the key players in this market include Bunker Holding A/S, Monjasa Holding A/S, Vitol Holding BV, Total SA, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support