Singapore’s marine fuel sales reportedly reached a two-month high in January as more vessels docked at the world's biggest hub to take advantage of cheap pricing.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) issued data early last week showing that sales increased to 4.38 million tons, up about 4% from last month.
Apparently, a total of 3,447 vessels made special calls to the Republic to fill marine fuel, a rise of slightly more than 4% from December. The previous all-time high was achieved in October 2022.
According to Emril Jamil, senior oil analyst, Refinitiv, a division of the London Stock Exchange Group, higher demand was probably caused by shipowners carrying surplus volume in addition to taking advantage of cheaper pricing.
As per reports, this was done in anticipation of being unable to buy bunkers at Chinese ports over the second half of January considering the seasonal disruptions during the Chinese New Year festivities.
Jamil stated that a look at the information made available by the MPA revealed that more cargo ships, container vessels, and oil tankers, vessels that normally transport dry goods, arrived in Singapore in January.
Apparently, a rise in the demand for bunker fuels with less sulfur helped drive increased sales.
According to MPA data, sales of the most popular low-sulfur marine fuel grade increased by almost 5% in January to 2.3 million tons in comparison to December.
Sales of high-sulfur bunker fuels, which had been gradually increasing as cheap Russian blend oil became more widely available, decreased by over 8% in January to 1.2 million tons as opposed to December.
In the early weeks of February, Vincent Clerc, CEO of container shipping giant A.P. Moller Maersk, stated during a result meeting that the business anticipates a 2.5% decline in global demand for sea freight vessels as a result of a buildup in stocks.
