Sing Fuels Enters the Greek Shipipng Fuels Market

Prime Bunkerplus, led by Ms. Irene Notias has recently partnered with Sing Fuels to expand its services in the bunker market. The latter will acquire the Greek company, which will operate under the name of Sing Fuels Pte. Ltd. (Hellas). “Further investment will be made to increase the company’s current headcount, adding more traders, and broadening its service offering in Greece”, explains Ms. Irene Notias, CEO of Prime’s Bunkersplus, in an exclusive interview with Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide (www.hellenicshippingnews.com).

Can you offer us some insight on the details of the partnership between Prime’s Bunkersplus and Sing Fuels?

Having led Prime’s Bunkerplus for more than two decades, I take pride in providing bunker brokering and buying management services to our customers. Over the years, this experience has offered me insights into the challenges that we face in the shipping industry. Amongst others, this includes the sustained oil prices in the foreseeable future and the sustainability of the industry’s supply chain, which will continue to grow in importance as a key issue that all players and stakeholders will need to address.

At the same time, this presents an opportune time to expand our business as we strive to meet the needs of our customers in this new environment. I believe that our partnership with Sing Fuels, as an established global energy trading firm, will provide the right momentum for us to realise our aspirations as a united front.

This is also in line with Sing Fuels’ ambition to build a global alliance through acquisitions that will support their business and growth strategy.

Between Prime’s Bunkersplus and Sing Fuels, our firms found that we share the same values. Prime’s Bunkersplus brings deep local insights and connections to the partnership. This will enable Sing Fuels to grow in depth and extend its reach to create stronger ties and relationships in local Greek market and consolidate its business across the different markets.

Following the merger & acquisition, Prime’s Bunkersplus will operate under the name of Sing Fuels Pte. Ltd. (Hellas). Further investment will be made to increase the company’s current headcount, adding more traders, and broadening its service offering in Greece.

How did this agreement come into fruition?

Both companies have roots as brokerage firms, and Prime’s Bunkersplus is a long-time associate of Sing Fuels. We have consistently been achieving steady growth and have established ourselves as a key player in the region.

For me and my company which reflects my life’s work, it is a natural – inevitable development, both personally and professionally, I mean, to evolve into something bigger. When I say bigger, considering the zeitgeist of globalization, to merge with another company.

This agreement to merge or be acquired by another company is built on the foundation of shared and deep commitment to operational excellence. We believe there are significant opportunities to capture more market share with a proactive approach to after service, and drive Sing Fuel’s growth through this global alliance.

Why did Sing Fuels choose Greece as its next step towards expansion?

Greece is one of the world’s largest shipping markets and an important strategic location. The partnership with Prime’s Bunkersplus marks Sing Fuels’ entry into Greek market, which will be its sixth geographical location after Singapore, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Sing Fuels hopes to use this partnership in Greece as a springboard to expand into the neighbouring and overseas markets which includes Europe and China, as well as expand its product portfolio.

Post-acquisition, the company will continue to offer a strong local alternative to the larger shipping customer base, leveraging Prime Bunkersplus’ independent broking bunker-buying management services.

Which will be the main clients/markets which the new venture will pursue?

I am the Country Manager for Sing Fuels and will lead the team in shaping the trajectory and growth of the business in the region.

We cater to small & medium size Greek ship owning clients, besides blue-chip larger clients so we will build on that.

What’s the future of bunker suppliers? With the gradual shift towards cleaner fuels, how do you envisage your company in a few years’ time?

As a company, we are committed to investing to stay ahead on all new and alternative fuels to ensure that our products and services continue to meet our customers’ needs and are able to support them in realizing their sustainability goals.

We are embedding practical sustainability measures into key operational areas of our business. Our product development and offering is driven by the demand by our customers, and we stay close to evolving market needs and trends. At this moment, the main interest is around biofuels, against the backdrop of a fall in biofuels readily available in various ports.

This is in line with the International Maritime Organization’s decarbonization ambitions, and we are actively exploring alternate platforms for championing investments in liquid ammonia, green hydrogen, low carbon vessels, and carbon capture technologies.

For example, Sing Fuels has invested in green energy through a partnership with VFlowTech that focuses on the development of microgrids with vanadium batteries, with the aim to provide green energy solutions to the shipping industry and port infrastructure.

In the area of clean energy, Sing Fuels has signed a MOU with ERI@N/EcoLabs to bring clean energy technologies, services, and products to global markets with its expertise.

The company is also developing a carbon offsetting platform for our customers to be able to offset voluntary carbon emissions as well as offsetting towards regulatory markets.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide