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By Jeslyn Lerh
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Sales of marine fuel, also known as bunker fuel, recovered at top refuelling hub Singapore in March as vessel calls for bunkering reached more than two-year highs, official data showed Friday.
Bunker sales are an indicator of sentiment at one of the world’s most major ports and demand also affects fuel oil refining margins in Asia.
Singapore’s bunker sales in March rose to 4.18 million tonnes, up 10% month on month and 11% from a year earlier, Maritime and Port Authority data showed.
The rise reflected increasing vessel calls for bunkering, which hit more than two-year highs at 3,476 calls in March.
Demand improved after a lacklustre February, when sales hit eight-month lows.
Lower upstream crude oil prices in March, which led to lower outright prices for bunkers, encouraged slightly more buying inquiries, trade sources said.
Volumes rose in March for all key bunker grades, including low-sulphur fuel oil, high-sulphur fuel oil and marine gasoil.
Bunker sales of LSFO grades totalled 2.58 million tonnes, up 10% month on month, the data showed.
Sales of HSFO grades totalled 1.24 million tonnes, up 11% from February while marine gasoil sales rose 9% to 330,200 tonnes.
Singapore bunker sales and bunker vessel calls by month:
Month Total Sales M-o-M Y-o-Y Vessel Arrivals M-o-M Y-o-Y
(‘000 tonnes) (for bunkering)
Jan-22 4,033.40 -3.5% -10.4% 3,115 -0.9% -13.3%
Feb-22 3,501.60 -13.2% -15.0% 2,805 -10.0% -13.4%
Mar-22 3,770.10 7.7% -10.2% 3,020 7.7% -12.7%
Apr-22 3,742.30 -0.7% -12.1% 3,025 0.2% -12.5%
May-22 4,115.50 10.0% 1.1% 3,168 4.7% -5.4%
Jun-22 3,754.10 -8.8% -8.7% 2,940 -7.2% -9.3%
Jul-22 4,120.60 9.8% 1.4% 3,181 8.2% -3.4%
Aug-22 4,116.30 -0.1% 1.1% 3,212 1.0% 0.7%
Sep-22 3,967.60 -3.6% 0.8% 3,155 -1.8% 1.8%
Oct-22 4,251.00 7.1% -0.1% 3,431 8.7% 8.4%
Nov-22 4,372.70 2.9% 3.6% 3,299 -3.8% 2.7%
Dec-22 4,214.90 -3.6% 0.9% 3,311 0.4% 5.3%
Jan-23 4,376.90 3.8% 8.5% 3,447 4.1% 10.7%
Feb-23 3,794.30 -13.3% 8.4% 3,063 -11.1% 9.2%
Mar-23* 4,175.30 10.0% 10.7% 3,476 13.5% 15.1%
Monthly bunker sales by grade in ‘000 tonnes:
Month LSFO 100 LSFO 180 LSFO 380 MFO 180 MFO 380 MFO 500 MGO LSMGO Others
cst cst cst cst cst cst
Jan-22 460.10 93.00 2007.90 0.10 1036.70 85.60 13.80 336.10 0.00
Feb-22 459.60 93.80 1733.10 0.20 795.90 128.10 10.60 280.50 0.00
Mar-22 555.10 100.60 1741.70 0.00 962.60 124.90 9.70 271.80 3.70
Apr-22 533.00 111.60 1832.60 0.00 914.50 27.20 7.90 278.60 36.70
May-22 540.20 103.30 1995.60 0.00 999.90 72.30 5.80 375.80 22.60
Jun-22 382.10 90.40 1881.00 0.00 1045.90 47.40 6.90 272.70 27.60
Jul-22 439.10 57.30 2009.10 0.00 1255.30 12.00 13.70 313.80 20.30
Aug-22 397.10 53.90 2059.50 0.00 1227.50 2.90 11.30 330.40 32.60
Sep-22 461.20 67.90 1944.40 0.00 1114.20 1.30 6.30 329.40 42.80
Oct-22 363.70 68.40 2154.30 0.00 1309.70 1.60 11.10 305.10 37.10
Nov-22 697.60 61.20 1992.90 0.00 1237.20 12.20 22.80 307.80 40.90
Dec-22 372.30 73.70 2150.30 0.00 1265.80 0.00 20.60 285.60 46.60
Jan-23 429.40 73.60 2298.30 0.00 1226.10 0.00 10.80 313.70 25.00
Feb-23 346.44 63.47 1938.52 0.00 1105.58 3.69 6.21 297.02 33.41
Mar-23* 539.10 75.10 1960.50 0.10 1235.20 0.50 14.70 315.50 32.20
(Data from Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore)
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; editing by Jason Neely)
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