zoomImage Courtesy: Aegean

Marine fuel logistics company Aegean Marine Petroleum Network has decided to exit the Singapore market as a physical supplier as of January 2018, after almost 11 years, amid pressure from competition.

However, the company said that it would keep a trading presence in the Singapore market by continuing to employ a team of traders and support staff who will support its clients in the market.

The company would use its office in Singapore as a base of Asian customers for its global physical supply network as well as handling back-to-back bunker trading and lubricants business in Singapore and South-East Asia.

“The bunkering market in general, and the Singapore market in particular, are extremely competitive. We had hoped that enforcement of mandatory mass flow meter (MFM)-equipped bunker barging in January would have driven commercial improvement in the Singapore market allowing Aegean to compete profitably.

“However, 2017 has seen heightened commercial pressures in Singapore, and as a result, management has determined that Aegean’s resources can be more profitably deployed elsewhere,” Aegean’s President Jonathan McIlroy commented.

The marine fuels provider said that it was in the process of arranging its withdrawal from the physical supply market in Singapore in conjunction with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and its barging and cargo partners in the market.

“All deliveries and contracts that we have booked with clients’ vessels, cargo providers and barge contractors will be fulfilled,” McIlroy emphasized.

Aegean is working on the development of new physical supply stations, expected to debut over the course of 2018, in addition to its most recent expansions in Algoa Bay (South Africa) in 2016, and Savannah (U.S.) and St Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands) in 2017.