Asia/Pacific News
No Drop in Singapore Bunker Volumes from Mandatory MFMs as MPA Reports Record Sales
Contrary to what some in the industry had predicted, the January 1, 2017 introduction of mandatory mass flow meters (MFMs) for bunkering in Singapore has not caused a drop in bunker sales, with the latest preliminary data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showing January's sales hit a record monthly high of 4,462,200 metric tonnes (mt) for all products.
Prior to the port's mandating of MFM use, the only port in the world to have done so, some had speculated it would cause bunker prices in the port to rise and drive volumes elsewhere.
As it was, January sales grew 14.3 percent year on year and beat the previous monthly sales record of of 4,363,700 mt set in May 2016.
As always, IFO380 sales were the majority of the overall volume with 3,339,100 mt sold, while 500 cSt sales of 893,300 mt made a now typical 20 percent of the overall total.
Notably, 100 mt of MDO sales were recorded, the first sale of the product in Singapore since March 2016.
MPA reported 3,630 calls for bunkers in January, which was actually less than the 3,640 bunker calls reported for January 2016.
With the jump in sales, this lifted the average stem size for the month to 1,230 mt - the highest is has been for several years and well above the 12 month average stem size of 1,154 mt.
