Bunker fuel, mainly made from cracked residue oil and straight run residue oil of petroleum refers to a type of fuel oil used for marine diesel engines. It has characteristics of high viscosity, containing many non-hydrocarbon compounds, colloids, and asphaltenes.

Overview of Market Development

According to our research data, the global bunker fuel market revenue is expected to reach $136.85 billion in 2024, an increase of 6.86% compared to 2023. In the future, with the development of global trade and shipping industry, the market for bunker fuel will continue to expand. It is expected that by 2029, the global bunker fuel market revenue will increase to $199.87 billion.

Analysis of Market Competition Pattern

From the perspective of market competition, the concentration of the global bunker fuel market is relatively low. According to the data, the total revenue for bunker fuel of the top 3 companies in 2023 was $32.54 billion, with a total revenue share of 25.41%. The top three companies were World Fuel Services Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and PetroChina (ChinaMarine Bunker). In 2023, these three companies accounted for 8.77%, 8.49%, and 8.15% of the global market revenue in the bunker fuel market, respectively.

Source: www.globalmarketmonitor.com

Segmented Market Analysis

From the perspective of product types, bunker fuel can be divided into two categories based on different uses: distillate type bunker fuel and residue type bunker fuel. Distillate bunker fuel is commonly used as the main engine for small ships such as high-speed passenger ships, inland waterway vessels, and sailboats, or as an auxiliary engine for large ships; Residual bunker fuel is mainly used for low-speed diesel engines, or mixed with distillate fuels for low-speed diesel engines. It is the main fuel for international transport ships and larger ship types transported along the coast and river. Among them, residual bunker fuel occupies a larger market share, estimated at 59.44% in 2024.

From an application perspective, bunker fuel is mainly used in oil tanker fleets, container fleets, as well as bulk and general cargo fleets. Among them, the container fleet segment is the largest downstream application market, with an estimated application share of 27.74% in 2024.

	Market Revenue (Billion USD)	Market Share
Segment by Type
Distillate Type Bunker Fuel	55.51	40.56%
Residue Type Bunker Fuel	81.35	59.44%
Segment by Application
Oil Tanker Fleets	15.75	11.51%
Container Fleets	37.96	27.74%
Bulk And General Cargo Fleets	31.01	22.6%
Others	52.13	38.09%

Source: www.globalmarketmonitor.com

Market Development Trend Prediction

The transition to clean energy will become a major trend. In the future, stricter environmental regulations will promote the transition of bunker fuel to low sulfur and sulfur free fuels, and clean energy sources such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), methanol, and hydrogen will gradually be applied and promoted.

For more industry information, please refer to our latest released "2023 Global Bunker Fuel Market Analysis Report, Key Competitors, Market Effect Factors, Growth, And Forecast".