Asia/Pacific News
Singapore Bunker Sales Hit 13 Month Low
Singapore's monthly bunker sales for March dropped to a 13-month low of 3,184,900 metric tonnes (mt) for all products, some 5 percent lower than the same period in 2013, according to official data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
It was the third consecutive month of falling monthly volumes at the world's largest bunkering port.
The slide of 2.8 percent month on month was somewhat against the trend, as not only are March sales typically higher than those of the shorter month preceding it, but February had the lowest monthly sales of the year in both 2013 and 2012.
Perhaps more significant was the dip's impact on the quarterly sales picture, which had made gains for the previous 3 quarters.
The March performance pulled 2014 Q1's sales to 10.02 million mt, their lowest quarterly level since at least 2011.
The drop in volumes came despite an increase in vessel arrivals at the port, up 3 percent year on year to 11,886, and an increase in calls for bunkers, up 2 percent year on year to 4,321.
MPA this month announced that from January 1, 2017 it will be mandatory to use a mass flow metering (MFM) system for Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) bunkering in Singapore, a move that some at last month's International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) forum say could further lower the port's sales volumes.
