Singapore’s marine fuel sales in April softened to their lowest point in more than a year, with volumes declining across all grades, data showed on Thursday, as the Middle East war kept prices high and prompted cautious buying by shippers.
Bunker sales at Singapore, the world’s top refuelling hub for ships, totalled 4.35 million tonnes in April, down 8.7 per cent from the previous month and slightly lower year-on-year, according to data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
Higher crude prices in the wake of the Middle East war continued to lift prices of marine fuels, with shippers buying bunkers more cautiously these days, market sources said.
This has crimped margins for bunker sellers, while supplies remained adequate amid the slower demand, sources added.
Vessel calls for bunkering dipped 1.8 per cent from March to 3,438 calls in April, while container throughput in Singapore fell 3.5 per cent to 3.76 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the MPA data showed.
Sales of the mainstay delivered 0.5 per cent low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) fell 6.3 per cent from March to 2.19 million tonnes in April, while high-sulphur marine fuel volumes dropped 7.6 per cent to 1.79 million tonnes.
Marine gasoil sales plummeted by 27.3 per cent to 256,100 tonnes in April, as premiums for gasoil turned extravagant compared with fuel oil following the Middle East war.
Meanwhile, volumes of alternative marine fuels also eased, with bio-blended marine fuel sales down 19.4 per cent at 74,400 tonnes, while liquefied natural gas bunker sales were down 13.4 per cent to 42,400 tonnes in April.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
