Smoother Services

Pakistan’s bunker market has long been dogged by issues of availability of locally refined fuels and the consequent expense of relying on imports. Things have improved on this score in recent years, though.

Late last year, Vitol Bunkers launched LSMGO and VLSFO supplies across Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Karachi Anchorage via its 8,700 dwt barge Marine Ista through a partnership with the country’s largest refinery, Cynergico, using US crude. The company said the move marked the first large-scale production of IMO compliant low sulphur fuel oil in Pakistan and would be “a significant milestone for Pakistan’s energy and maritime sectors”.

In February this year it then added HSFO to the mix, marking the first regular supply of the fuel in Pakistan since 2020, again supplied by Cynergico.

Vitol Bunkers’ global strategic business manager, Ammar Hussaini told World Bunkering:

“Since launching our marine fuel offering in Pakistan, market reception has been positive, and demand has continued to build across all three grades.

“To date, we have supplied around 120 vessels and completed approximately 38 barge loadings from oil terminals. We currently have two barges, Marine Ista and Marine Xena, supplying HSFO, VLSFO and LSMGO at Karachi and Bin Qasim. We are also seeing demand for larger stems, including deliveries of around 5,000 tonnes.”

Asked specifically about both supply and demand in the context of Pakistan’s sometimes wobbly local market, not to mention the ongoing tensions and conflict in Iran, he was upbeat about the future too.

“We expect HSFO, VLSFO and LSMGO to remain part of our standard marine fuel offering in Pakistan over the long term. Vitol’s focus is on providing customers with reliable, secure supply and flexible delivery options, even during periods of heightened regional uncertainty.”

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, is looking to build on a positive recent record in terms of overall cargo traffic and bunker business, both of which are likely to benefit from conflict in the Middle East Gulf just as they benefitted from the Red Sea diversions before it.

Last year, the Port of Colombo hit a record throughput of 8,291,178 TEUs, up from the already impressive 7,792,069 TEUs in 2024, which it said affirms the port’s standing as the leading container and transshipment hub in South Asia “at a time when international trade conditions remain uneven and freight networks continue to recalibrate”.

“The 2025 performance is notable not only for the volume achieved,” the Sri Lanka Ports Authority said, “but also for the context in which it was delivered. Global shipping networks continue to adjust to route realignments, fleet expansion and persistent cost pressures. Against this background, Colombo’s ability to attract additional vessel calls, retain transhipment volumes and improve vessel turnaround times reflects operational maturity and commercial credibility. These outcomes also point to effective coordination between terminal operators, port services, regulators and logistics partners, ensuring service continuity and reliability across the port ecosystem.”

The most recent available figures at the time of writing, covering the first four months of 2026, suggest Colombo is on track to beat that record, with traffic up nearly 14% on 2025 to 2.91m TEUs by the end of April, and April particularly busy. However, while vessel traffic is booming and with it the sales scope for Sri Lanka’s bunkerers, the spike in oil prices due to the conflict with Iran has hit Sri Lanka particularly hard as a major fuel importer. Prices for VLSFO peaked at just over $1,000/MT and consistently run $100/MT+ more expensive than Singapore – albeit still cheaper than neighbouring India.

But even Indian ports have been benefitting from the shift away from the Gulf. The first four months of 2026 saw bunker sales at Kochi, similarly close to the main East-West trades as Colombo but without as much vulnerability to the monsoon season and rough weather as its Sri Lankan rival, jump 24% in FY2026 to 463,000 tonnes, while individual monthly performances across the first five months of this year were similarly up with a particular spike in March in the wake of the conflict’s start.