Marine fuel sales in Singapore contracted by nearly 13.5 per cent in February as fewer vessels called at the world’s largest bunkering hub, due in part to the shorter month, reports the Straits Times.
Sales fell to 3.79 million tonnes compared with 4.38 million tonnes in the previous month, data released by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore earlier in March showed.
A total of 3,424 vessels called to load bunker fuel here in February, a dip of nearly 6 per cent compared with January.
Marine fuel sales hike
Mr Emril Jamil, senior oil analyst at Refinitiv, a unit of the London Stock Exchange Group, said the drops were the result of a combination of factors.
He said it was expected, with February being a shorter month, and because of the extended Chinese New Year festivities in Asia, which would have been factored into procurement programmes by shipowners. “And then, on a fundamental level, all these coincided with contracting Chinese export activity,” said Mr Jamil.
Earlier in March, China trade data showed that exports fell by 6.8 per cent in combined figures for January and February compared with a year earlier, while imports dropped by 10.2 per cent.
Despite the month-on-month drop, marine fuel sales in February were more than 8 per cent higher compared with the same month in 2022.
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Source: The Straits Times
