Americas News
Panama 2021 Sales Gain 5.7% After Two-Year High in December
Bunker sales in Panama ended up 5.7% higher overall last year after reaching the highest level in two years in December.
Total sales reached 486,614 mt in December, according to preliminary data from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP). The total was up by 17.8% from a year earlier, by 4.6% from November's level and the highest overall since December 2019.
That left 2021 sales overall at 5 million mt, up by 5.7% from 2020's level but still well short of the 5.4 million mt seen in 2019.
Conventional bunker sales in Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub, rose by 0.3% last year.
The number of ships coming to Panama to bunker advanced by 7% on the month to 690 in December, taking the average stem size down by 2.3% to about 705 mt. Over the previous 12 months the average stem size was about 714 mt.
VLSFO sales jumped by 11.4% from a month earlier to 351,658 mt, while HSFO sales dropped by 13.9% to 85,128 mt. HSFO took a 17.5% share of total sales in December, down from 21.3% a month earlier.
MGO sales sank by 3.6% on the month to 11,179 mt, while low-sulfur MGO declined by 1.1% to 38,649 mt.
Overall last year VLSFO had a 70.4% share of the market, HSFO had 18.4%, MGO 3% and LSMGO 8.2%. That compares with respective shares of 76.5%, 11.7%, 6% and 5.8% in 2019.
