Asia/Pacific News
Singapore Hits Record Q1 Bunker Sales
Singapore bunker sales for March 2015 surged 12.3 percent year-on-year to 3,577,500 metric tonnes (mt), according to the latest data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
It was the biggest gain since April 2012, and helped the world's top bunkering port by volume record its highest ever first quarter bunker sales of 10,653,600 mt for all products.
Singapore's best ever Q1 follows last month's record sales over the first two months of a year, which saw a combined sales volume of over 7 million mt during January and February.
Local players told Ship & Bunker they thought the high sales were in part due to the currently low bunker prices.
"I think there's been a sense that the market hit bottom, so buyers have not had a problem making some larger stems because they think the price will only be going up over the next few months," said one Singapore based supplier.
As usual IFO380 made up the majority of the March sales, with 2,650,500 mt sold.
Sales of 500 cSt product, the port's second most popular grade, were 721,400 mt and the first time they were over 700,000 mt since August last year.
Calls for bunkers were up 9.6 percent over the previous month at 3,295.
In 2014 Singapore recorded total annual sales of 42.4 million mt.
