Asia/Pacific News
Singapore Bunker Volumes Climb 3.5%
April saw Singapore record 2012's highest monthly Bunker sales volume so far after volumes rose for the second consecutive month, Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) data showed.
The month-on-month gain of 3.5% took the total for all products to 3,735,400 metric tonnes (mt), the highest volume since December 2011's 3,804,100 mt.
Monthly averages for the year now sit at 3.526 million mt, just below 2011's 3.596 million mt and ahead of 2010's 3.404 million mt.
500 cSt gains were less than last month's leap of 19.6%, but the 5.8% gain took April totals for the product to 515,300 mt, only the second time it has been over the 500,000 mt mark since June of 2011.
The numbers are in stark contrast to the monthly results of a year ago, when a 7.7% month-on-month drop in volumes for April 2011 saw Singapore record its worst performance of the year with 3,248,500 mt.
The outlook for the coming months is clouded by the uncertainty of how Western sanctions against Iran will impact the bunker markets in Singapore.
