News

Oil prices have increased by 72% from USD 31.48 to USD 54.06 per barrel over 2016. It might signal a shift in the economics of existing recycling programs meaning that some of our members receive a better price for their ‘dry oils’. However, the market is still weak. Cement kilns and metallurgy companies are not yet working at full capacity or have switched to other types of fuel (gas, brown coal etc.) for different reasons.

Many of our members continue to operate in challenging circumstances. Shipping is in a deep crisis. Overcapacity in the shipping sector is a fact, prices are weak putting shipping lines’ prices and profitability under severe pressure. Consequences are bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping and take-over of other shipping lines and a growing number of spills at sea. They are not necessarily illegal discharges, but more operational discharges possibly end up in the sea.

I read in the maritime press that several associations are complaining about conventions and rules not always being clear and about standards differing from one continent to another, or even within the EU or the US themselves.

As oil prices have fallen drastically since 2014, cement kilns and blast furnaces are increasingly using purer virgin fuels and, as such, reduce demand for the so called “dry oil” or waste oil collected from ships such as bilgewater, sludge and slops.

Dear reader, please find attached a background article illustrating the difficult situation of oil recycling initiatives in the EU.