Singapore Aug bunker fuel sales dip as spike in premiums dampens demand
GLOBAL-SHIPPING/SINGAPORE-BUNKER:Singapore Aug bunker fuel sales dip as spike in premiums dampens demand
* Some demand diverted due to spike in Singapore premiums * High-sulphur sales retain annual climb amid wide price spread * Marine biofuel sales hit record monthly high volume By Jeslyn Lerh SINGORE, Sept 16 - Marine fuel sales at Singapore, the world's largest bunker hub, posted a 2.3% monthly decline in August due to softer demand for key conventional fuel grades, data showed on Monday, although marine biofuel sales reached a monthly record high. Volumes for conventional bunker fuels softened for key grades month-on-month, as some spot demand got diverted to other Asia ports following a spike in Singapore bunker premiums and cargo tightness by late August, market sources said. August sales totalled 4.56 million metric tons, easing to a two-month low, though logging a 7.2% uptick from a year-earlier period, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed. Vessel calls for bunkering dipped 0.6% from July to 3,536 calls last month, although container throughput rose nearly 1% to 3.61 million twenty-foot equivalent units . CONVENTIONAL FUELS Sales of low-sulphur fuel oil totalled 2.44 million tons in August, down 1.7% month-on-month, the MPA data showed. By late-August, delivered LSFO prices in Singapore were much higher than prices at other Asian ports such as Zhoushan and Shanghai, based on data from bunker traders. Meanwhile, high-sulphur marine fuel oil sales totalled 1.69 million tons, down 4.8% from July, but up 21.7% from August last year. High-sulphur sales trended higher annually as scrubber-installed ships took advantage of wider discounts in HSFO prices versus LSFO prices, with the hi-5 fuel oil price spread widening to a six-month high in early September, hitting more than a $180 difference, based on LSEG's data. Separately, marine gasoil sales in August fell 1.2% to 306,800 tons month-on-month, though edging 8.6% higher from a year-ago period. ALTERNATIVE FUELS Total marine biofuel sales, including low-sulphur blends, high-sulphur blends and marine gasoil blends, rose to a monthly record high of 67,800 tons in August. Spot premiums of the delivered B24 marine biofuel grade narrowed to less than $110 per metric ton above 0.5% LSFO cargo prices in August, which could have spurred some uptake, according to market sources. Meanwhile, bunker sales of liquefied natural gas rebounded month-on-month in August, with volumes at 45,600 tons. Singapore monthly bunker sales by grade in '000 tons: Total LSFO Bio-blen MFO Bio-ble LSMGO MGO MDO Bio-ble Bio-ble LNG Methanol ded LSFO nded nded nded MFO LSMGO MDO Jan-24 4,906.1 2,861.1 45.3 1,658.8 0.0 317.0 13.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.4 0.0 Feb-24 4,509.3 2,554.6 15.6 1,601.0 0.0 296.8 14.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 26.9 0.0 Mar-24 4,445.1 2,419.9 66.0 1,605.4 0.0 310.0 5.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 38.6 0.0 Apr-24 4,235.2 2,252.4 59.6 1,600.5 0.0 277.4 9.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 35.6 0.0 May-24 4,826.8 2,639.5 48.4 1,737.8 5.3 331.0 14.3 0.0 0.0 0.3 48.8 1.6 Jun-24 4,274.9 2,331.1 45.3 1,557.6 2.5 278.8 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 51.7 0.0 Jul-24 4,668.7 2,485.7 42.5 1,780.7 6.1 308.8 1.8 1.0 0.0 0.0 43.2 0.0 Aug-24 * 4,559.5 2,444.4 55.2 1,694.8 11.2 300.4 6.4 2.0 0.7 0.0 45.6 0.0
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