Asia/Pacific News
Singapore Posts Highest Ever Monthly Bunker Sales After Jump in Average Stem Size
Singapore's bumper year for bunker sales has continued into May, with the latest preliminary data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showing last month the world's biggest bunkering port by volume recorded its highest ever monthly bunker sales volume of 4,363,700 metric tonnes (mt) for all products.
The monthly total means year to date sales have broken 20 million mt, a first for the five month period and a 13 percent increase on the period last year - even more impressive when one considers the 45 million mt of sales in 2015 was its record highest year.
IFO380, as always, made up the majority of May's volume with 3,229,900 mt sold.
Sales of the port's second most popular product, 500 cSt grade fuel, made a notable jump to 899,400 mt for the month - by far the product's highest monthly sales volume ever, besting the previous high of 820,100 mt set in November last year.
500 cSt sales also made up 20.6 percent of the overall total, equal with November last year as the highest ever proportion.
As an analysis by Ship & Bunker has already shown, bunker volumes in Singapore are typically a function of vessel calls, rather than fluctuations in stem size, so perhaps surprisingly the 3,626 calls for bunkers in May was not a record high for the month - August last year, and January, March, and April this year were all higher.
Instead, the increase in volume for May did result from an increase in average stem size, which at 1,203 mt was the highest average stem size since the 1,210 mt recorded in April 2014.
For comparison, the average stem size over the last 12 months is 1,127 mt
Singapore now looks firmly on track for another record breaking year of annual bunker sales, and to that end the port has sold 48.3 million mt over the last 12 months.
