Americas News
Strong December Takes Panama 2024 Bunker Sales Up 3.9% on Year
A strong performance in the Panama bunker market in December meant the country's overall bunker sales for 2024 jumped by 3.9% on the year.
Panama's total sales reached 500,563 mt in December, according to preliminary data from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP). The total was up by 26.7% from a year earlier, by 6.9% from November's level and the highest monthly total since October.
That left Panama's total bunker sales for 2024 at 5.1 million mt, up by 3.9% on the year and the most since 2022.
Singapore, the world's largest marine fuels hub, saw conventional and biofuel bunker sales fall by 6% on the year but rise by 6.9% on the month in December.
VLSFO sales in Panama gained 8.3% on the year to 287,768 mt in December. HSFO gained 78.7% to 157,685 mt, MGO surged by 160% to 11,347 mt and LSMGO climbed by 29.5% to 43,763 mt.
HSFO's share of the total was 31.5%, up from 22.5% a year earlier.
The number of ships coming to Panama to bunker jumped by 29.6% on the year to 661 in December, taking the average stem size down by 1.5% to about 757 mt. The average stem size for 2024 as a whole was about 762 mt.
The VLSFO price at Balboa averaged $566/mt in December, according to Ship & Bunker data, down by 1.3% from November's level and by 5.4% from December 2023.
Singapore's average VLSFO price in December was $551.50/mt, down by 3.8% from November's level and by 10.3% from the level seen a year earlier.
Ship & Bunker's G20-VLSFO Index of average prices across 20 leading bunkering ports lost 2.3% on the month and 9.2% on the year to $575/mt in December.
