Chile-based marine firm Agunsa has started offering biofuel bunkering in Argentina, a country where sustainable biofuels are not yet widely used in the maritime sector.

Agunsa’s subsidiary, Total Bunkering, has partnered with a local supplier to offer used cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME)-derived biofuel blended with VLSFO or LSMGO, certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC).

Biofuel blends can be delivered by truck to several ports, including San Nicolás, Campana, San Pedro, and Rosario—which are located within the Buenos Aires and Santa Fe provinces and are mainly used for industrial and agricultural exports.

Argentina, with its vast agricultural sector, holds significant potential for producing crop-based biofuels. However, sustainable bio feedstocks like UCOME face sourcing challenges due to limited availability and infrastructure, a source says.

The company indicated the price for the B30 blend—30% UCOME and 70% VLSFO—at around $1,170/mt on Monday, almost a double when compared to the price of pure VLSFO in Buenos Aires.

“In this first stage, we aim to start with boutique volumes, so our customers can prove the quality of our products delivered by truck, but as the demand keeps growing, we intend to adapt our supply to the larger volumes that are usually requested for Zona Comun via barge transport,” Total Bunkering’s business manager Ariel Gryner told ENGINE.

While current demand for biofuels is low, Agunsa anticipates that demand will increase soon.

“The [biofuel] market is a bit slow, considering there’s no track record in Argentina for biofuel supplies, and the fact that there’s still no mandatory use of biofuels, but we expect that the demand will ramp up soon,” Gryner added.

The nearest ports offering biofuel bunkering are in Brazil, such as the Port of Santos and the Port of Rio de Janeiro.

Agunsa also recently began supplying traditional marine fuels at the Ternium-Siderar terminal, with logistics handled by its sister company, Inversiones Maritimas Universales.

The company declined to disclose details about its local partner and its biofuel production capacity.

Source: ENGINE by Debarati Bhattacharjee