Rotterdam Posts Steepest Quarterly Drop in Marine Biofuel Sales Since 2024

The Port of Rotterdam reported that marine biofuel sales fell 38% in the third quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter, totaling 154,000 metric tonnes. This marks the largest quarterly decline since the third quarter of 2024, according to port authority data. The authority explained that volumes of bio-blended fuels were lower following a very strong second quarter.

Bio-VLSFO remained the best-selling blend, but its sales dropped 56% quarter-on-quarter to 63,000 tonnes, reducing its share to 41% of total biofuel sales from 59% in the second quarter. Bio-HSFO fell 58% to 13,000 tonnes, while bio-ULSFO held nearly steady at 22,000 tonnes. Bio-MGO fared better, slipping just 4% to 41,000 tonnes, in contrast to the overall 38% decline.

Among fuels that grew, bio-methanol sales rose 46% quarter-on-quarter to 4,200 tonnes, its highest quarterly volume since the first quarter of 2025. Liquefied biomethane (LBM) sales tripled to 11,000 tonnes, the highest figure since the port began reporting biofuel volumes in 2021. No bioethanol sales were recorded during the quarter, following the 1,000 tonnes sold in the second quarter.

Biofuels accounted for 8% of total bunker sales in Rotterdam during the third quarter, down from 13% in the previous quarter. Despite the quarterly decline, cumulative biofuel sales in the first nine months of 2026 rose 7% year-on-year, to 514,000 tonnes, compared to 482,000 tonnes in the same period of 2025.

According to data published by the port authority and reported by Manifold Times, conventional fuels also declined year-on-year in the third quarter: very low sulphur fuel oil fell 32.8% to 427,347 tonnes, and high sulphur fuel oil dropped 13.4% to 754,853 tonnes. LNG bunker deliveries fell 35.4% year-on-year, to 215,420 cubic metres. Among bio-blended variants, bio-MGO rose 51.5% year-on-year and bio-MDO surged 182%, while there were no ethanol deliveries during the quarter, following the 1,025 tonnes recorded in the second quarter.

The port authority indicated that it does not report B100 separately and that this fuel is likely included within the bio-MGO figures. ENGINE data showed that the number of B100 samples recorded in Rotterdam more than doubled in the first eight months of 2026 compared to the previous year, raising its share to 23% of the port's biofuel samples, up from 12%. According to Hellenic Shipping News, this higher demand for B100 could explain why bio-MGO sales held firm while the rest of the blends declined sharply.