What should a fit-for-purpose bunker industry look like?

As a global industry, bunkering is impacted daily by a vast range of issues, stemming from global changes and also regional trends. These include geopolitics, trading patterns, supply and demand challenges, fuel quality, commercial and operational factors, regulation and legislation, and, increasingly, technological developments.

Shipping and bunkering

As the COVID pandemic and recent regional conflicts have shown us, shipping and bunkering have demonstrated the ability to go above and beyond and keep trade lanes and supply chains open for business.

There’s no doubting the resilience of the marine fuels sector but times are changing, and the industry’s stakeholders must adapt and evolve to stay in the game.

Digitalisation

As the decade moves towards 2030, a key milestone in the International Maritime Organization’s revised greenhouse gas strategy, ARACON 2024 will consider what a fit-for-purpose bunker industry of the future should look like – and what are the steps that companies should be taking to remain aligned with clients’ expectations and also be competitive.

Conference speakers will examine the sector from every angle and consider how it is responding to new regulations (EEXI, CII, the EU Emissions Trading System, FuelEU Maritime) and the shift towards greater industry transparency through the use of digitalisation, e-BDNs, mass flow metres, bunker licencing, and fuel traceability.

Future commercial and regulatory challenges

ARACON 2024 will also look at the industry’s ‘eco-system’ and consider how the roles of brokers, traders, physical suppliers, and finance and technology providers may have to evolve to meet future commercial and regulatory challenges. Will the large commodity traders continue to be key players in the sector, and will the smaller, regional bunker suppliers be able to survive in what will only be a more competitive and fast-paced business environment? What could industry consolidation look like over the next decade?

Also, as the new marine fuels begin to feed into the supply mix, will the global bunkering infrastructure – with its traditional hubs and spoke format – have to change? And what will be the role of intermediaries as shipping companies begin to do business with new entrants to the supply market?