Logistics giant AP Moller-Maersk saw a 6.9% drop in its bunker consumption last year as the COVID-19 pandemic hit container freight demand, reports Ship & Bunker.
Plunging bunker consumption
Maersk’s total bunker consumption was 10.3 million mt in 2020, according to its annual report, down from 11.1 million mt in 2019. Maersk is the world’s largest consumer of bunker fuel, and one of the world’s biggest users of oil products of any kind.
Last year’s oil-price crash stymied the increase in bunker costs that the company expected with the IMO 2020 shift to VLSFO as its dominant bunker fuel. The company paid an average of $372/mt for its fuel last year, down from $412/mt in 2019.
Strong cost savings
Maersk’s fuel efficiency continued to climb, with fuel consumption per TEU per nautical mile falling to 40.9 g/TEU*NM from 41.2 g/TEU*NM the previous year. Maersk’s overall EBITDA jumped by 44% last year to $8.2 billion.
This was “mainly driven by strong cost savings in Ocean focusing on agile capacity deployment, lower bunker costs and an increase in short-term freight rates,” the company said.
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Source: Ship & Bunker
