Sales of marine fuels in August at Asia’s biggest ship fuelling port of Singapore rose 3.2 percent from a year ago to 4.364 million tonnes, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed on Wednesday, but were down 0.7 percent from July. The latest sales volumes are the highest on record for the month of August and are the third highest for 2017.
“I’m not surprised…demand in August was good and September is also looking good,” said a Singapore-based bunker fuels trader. By Sept. 11, the Baltic Dry Index, an economic indicator which tracks the demand for shipping raw materials such as coal, iron and steel, climbed to its highest since November 2014 as trade activity improved, sources said.
Similarly, the Harpex Shipping Index, which tracks weekly container shipping rates, climbed to its highest since May in early September. Despite a 6 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in the number of ships calling in Singapore for refuelling in August, also called bunkering, the average volume of fuel each vessel took rose to a record 1,310 tonnes, Reuters calculations showed. This compared with an average 1,220 tonnes of bunkers loaded per ship in 2017 and an average of 1,150 tonnes per ship in 2016. Overall bunker fuel sales in the first eight months of the year stood at 33.68 million tonnes, 3 percent higher than the 32.73 million tonnes sold during the same time last year.
FUEL TYPES Monthly sales of the 380-centistoke (cst) high-sulphur fuel oil fell to a two-month low of 3.234 million tonnes. Sales of the mainstay fuel were 4 percent higher from the same time last year but 2 percent lower from the previous month. By contrast, sales volumes of the less costly high-viscosity 500-cst marine fuel rose to a near-record 892,000 tonnes, up 6 percent from last month but 0.6 percent lower from a year earlier. Sales of the 500-cst fuel reached a record 899,000 tonnes in May 2016. August sales of low-sulphur marine gas oil (LSMGO) jumped 27 percent from last year to a five-month high of 110,000 tonnes.
Compared to July, LSMGO sales were 5 percent higher. Year-on-year sales of the lower-viscosity 180-cst fuel fell for a sixteenth consecutive month to 19,000 tonnes, down 61 percent from last year and 34 percent lower from the previous month. 2017 Total % yoy Marine fuel % yoy Marine fuel % yoy Marine fuel % yoy LSMGO % yoy 2017 Vessel % yoy Vessel % yoy Bunker (‘000) oil 180-cst oil 380-cst oil 500-cst (‘000) arrivals arrivals tonnes/ship (‘000) (‘000) (‘000) for bunker (‘000s) Jan 4462 7.1% 33 -46.4% 3339 4.2% 893 23.4% 118 39.4% Jan 11925 2.3% 3630 -0.3% 1.23 Feb 3846 9.6% 30 -43.0% 2918 10.8% 711 7.0% 102 23.8% Feb 10666 0.4% 3218 -1.7% 1.20 Mar 4342 4.6% 31 -35.4% 3270 4.5% 842 6.2% 114 30.6% Mar 12318 4.5% 3589 -2.3% 1.21 Apr 4253 3.5% 23 -53.5% 3185 3.8% 877 16.7% 102 -20.1% Apr 12260 6.3% 3495 -4.0% 1.22 May 4181 -4.2% 24 -42.3% 3123 -3.3% 857 -4.8% 103 1.3% May 12655 8.1% 3513 -3.1% 1.19 Jun 3836 -6.1% 9 -80.0% 2785 -6.6% 882 -1.4% 99 16.1% Jun 12273 7.2% 3378 -3.9% 1.14 Jul 4394 6.8% 29 -29.2% 3306 8.5% 845 -1.4% 104 13.1% Jul 11808 4.3% 3386 -4.7% 1.30 Aug 4364 3.2% 19 -61.2% 3234 3.8% 892 -0.6% 110 27.4% Aug 11915 1.8% 3334 -6.4% 1.31 2016 Total % yoy Marine fuel % yoy Marine fuel % yoy Marine fuel % yoy LSMGO % yoy 2016 Vessel % yoy Vessel % yoy Bunker (‘000) oil 180-cst oil 380-cst oil 500-cst (‘000) arrivals arrivals tonnes/ship (‘000) (‘000) (‘000) for bunker (‘000s) Jan 4165 13.2% 62 -10.5% 3204 16.0% 724 6.9% 85 4.6% Jan 11657 3.0% 3640 7.4% 1.14 Feb 3510 3.4% 53 -11.6% 2635 5.8% 665 -4.3% 83 21.3% Feb 10621 3.7% 3273 8.9% 1.07 Mar 4150 16.0% 49 -13.4% 3130 18.1% 792 9.8% 88 35.4% Mar 11789 6.0% 3672 11.4% 1.13 Apr 4110 12.1% 50 1.0% 3069 11.9% 751 3.4% 128 107.5% Apr 11530 7.1% 3641 7.6% 1.13 May 4364 17.7% 41 -19.4% 3230 15.2% 899 27.6% 101 56.3% May 11708 6.2% 3626 3.7% 1.20 Jun 4086 15.6% 44 -17.5% 2982 13.8% 895 23.3% 86 34.2% Jun 11454 4.5% 3516 8.3% 1.16 Jul 4115 8.7% 41 -33.3% 3046 4.8% 858 25.8% 92 59.2% Jul 11322 0.2% 3553 3.9% 1.16 Aug 4228 -1.4% 49 -24.3% 3117 -5.4% 898 15.9% 86 20.6% Aug 11708 1.5% 3561 -3.0% 1.19 Sep 3831 -0.4% 45 -8.9% 2760 -5.1% 849 15.2% 96 50.6% Sep 11437 3.5% 3324 -1.8% 1.15 Oct 4009 10.2% 44 -23.5% 2988 4.9% 794 37.6% 103 66.1% Oct 11928 7.0% 3507 1.1% 1.14 Nov 4142 4.0% 45 -8.0% 3068 3.0% 859 4.7% 97 59.1% Nov 11713 6.0% 3521 3.7% 1.18 Dec 3905 -3.6% 41 -24.4% 2880 -7.1% 818 7.7% 93 43.5% Dec 12131 6.2% 3546 -1.8% 1.10 Dwarakanath)
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Source: Reuters (Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh; Editing by Biju
