Players in the Peruvian bunker industry have told Bunkerspot that the inauguration of Chancay Port – COSCO SHIPPING’s first ‘green and smart’ port investment in South America – could herald a ‘new dawn’ for the country’s economy in general, and a boost for its shipping and bunkering activities in particular.
As previously reported, an inauguration ceremony was held at the port on 14 November with Dina Boluarte and Xi Jinping, respectively the Presidents of Chia and Peru, attending via video link.
Located about 80 kilometres (km) from the Peruvian capital Lima, Chancay will be the only port in South America capable of accommodating the new-generation Triple E container ships. Set to offer a throughput capacity of one million TEUs, 6 million tonnes of bulk cargo, and 160,000 vehicles annually, Chancay will form part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) network and will be a gateway not only for Peru but also neighbouring countries such as Bolivia and the land-locked Paraguay.
Speaking to Bunkerspot yesterday (28 November), Luis Goldenberg, the Managing Director of Callao-headquartered bunker supplier FAMOIL, said that his company is planning to dedicate one of its 4,000 tonne capacity barges – probably either the Great Panther or the Great Tiger – to serving the bunkering needs of the vessels that will be calling at Chancay.
‘Chancay is about 80 km from Callao, where our storage and barges are based, so it is only a short trip,’ Goldenberg said.
At the moment, Goldenberg added, Chancay is in ‘trial mode’, with only COSCO vessels calling, but operations will get properly underway in January with many more container and dry bulk ships set to arrive.
Goldenberg expects to see a major uplift in bunker volumes as the port operations Chancay ramp up – and he also expects to see changes in the fuel mix.
‘We import our marine fuels from Panama,’ Goldenberg, ‘with a 45,000 tonne capacity tanker bringing new cargoes every two months. At the moment, we are typically bringing in 35,000 tonnes of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), 5,000 tonnes of high sulphur fuel oil (IHSFO) and 5,000 tonnes of low sulphur marine gasoil (LSFO) – but we may look at dropping the VLSFO to 30,000 tonnes and increasing the HSFO to 10,000 tonnes to reflect the different needs of the container ships calling at Chancay.’
An increase in demand for the high sulphur grade from the scrubber-equipped container ships calling at Chancay should play to FAMOIL’s strengths, as Goldenberg informed us that it is the only bunker supplier in Peru currently providing HSFO. FAMOIL has also added biofuels to its products, for which Goldenberg expects to see growing demand in the near future.
Related Reading:
AMERICAS: Chancay Peru Terminal opens for business
AMERICAS: Developments in Callao and Chancay set to boost Peru’s bunker market
Expanding horizons (Peru Bunker Market Profile, February 2023)
