Bunker sales at Algeciras, strategically located by the Strait of Gibraltar, lag behind Gibraltar. But while Gibraltar reported a slight decline in 2008 bunker sales, the Spanish port reported continued growth last year.
Algeciras recorded bunker sales of just under 2,4 million mt in 2008, a 4.8% year-on-year increase.
Observers say bunker sales in Gibraltar, which shifted a record 4.47 million metric tonnes (mt) of marine fuels in 2007, may have peaked because the port has run out of space to expand its bunker infrastructure.
Developments are underwayin Algeciras that will boost the port’s bunkering potential significantly, APBA told Bunkerworld in an interview for the Bunkerworld Magazine.
“Our intention is increase [bunker sales] volume from 2011, considering two different favourable circumstances: on the one hand, the arrival of Alpetrol, a new bunker facility to the Port of Algeciras Bay, which will set up a new liquid bulk storage facility with 6 hectares of surface in Isla Verde Exterior area. On the other hand, the Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH) will increase its storage capacity in Algeciras,” APBA said.
According to the port authority’s plans, oil and bunker storage capacity at Algeciras will increase 21%, reaching a total capacity of 2.6 million cubic metres (m³), once the Alpetrol and CLH projects become operational.
The new Isla Verde Hydrocarbon Maritime Storage and Distribution Terminal, totalling an investment of some 110 million euro ($142.5 million), is due for commissioning in 2011.
Alpetrol Terminal S.A. was chosen by the Port of Algeciras to develop the terminal in 2005.
Apart from the extra bunker storage capacity coming from the Alpetrol and CHL expansion projects, bunkering capacity at Algeciras Bay is also expected to grow “because of the increase in the number of barges available to meet new demand,” APBA told Bunkerworld.
“We do hope as well that the increase from the offer side will be translated into an increase in volume overall,” it added.
Bunkering in Algeciras is currently dominated by two major suppliers: Cepsa Marine Fuels (CMF) and Repsol YPF.
APBA said the port’s developments “may offer good business opportunities for bunker suppliers,” but could not specify which bunker suppliers would benefit from the new storage capacity coming from Alpetrol and CHL.
Algeciras bunker sales continue to rise
05.18.2009 - NEWS
Bunker sales at the Spanish port of Algeciras have continued to grow at a time when many ports are expected to record a drop in volume.
"During the first quarter of 2009, companies operating at the Spanish port bunkered ships with 608,963 metric tonnes of petroleum products, an increase of 19%," the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority (APBA) reported today.
65% of the bunkers were supplied to ships at anchor in the Bay of Algeciras and the remaining 35% to ships berthed at the port's quays, according to APBA.
The increase in bunker sales came even as overall port throughout volumes shrank by 14.5% during the first quarter (Q1) of 2009. APBA said vessel calls to the port remained comparatively stable at 5,707 vessels in Q1, despite the fall in throughput.
