Singapore Smashes Monthly Bunker Sales Record

Singapore, the world's biggest bunkering port by volume has smashed its monthly bunker sales record, with the latest preliminary data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showing August volumes for all products totalled 4,287,800 metric tonnes (mt).

It is the first time more than 4 million mt has been sold at the port in a single month, beating the previous record of 3,985,700 mt set in May 2012 by a substantial margin of 7.6 percent.

The total also represents an increase of 16.9 percent over sales for August last year, making it the biggest year-on-year increase since August 2010.

Individually, sales of IFO380 and 500 cSt product hit their respective highest ever volumes for a single month at 3.67 million mt and 774,800 mt respectively,

Like last month, 500 cSt made up around 18 percent of the overall sales total, slightly down on the more usual 19-20 percent witnessed over the last two years, a possible sign that the savings to be made on the higher viscosity product were a little less attractive than usual given the recent huge slide in overall bunker prices.

IFO380's share of the sales total, in contrast, for July and August was 76.8 and 76.9 percent respectively compared to an average of 74.7 percent over the preceding 12 months.

The record sales were accompanied by 3,670 calls for bunkers during August, which is also likely the port's highest ever for a single month and certainly the highest since January 2011.

The result means that, as at the end of August, year-to-date sales in Singapore stand at 29,635,800 mt, the highest ever total for the first eight months of a year, and it means 2015's bunker sales so far have been higher than those in 2014 for every month except one.

The record figures come alongside a dramatic slide in bunker prices, which in August saw Singapore IFO380 prices crash to their lowest in over 10 years.