Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: MPA

• March sales gained 6.5% on year and 2.3% from February
• Q1 total was 11.6% higher than Q1 2025
• Strongest growth seen in HSFO sales
• Container segment sees biggest growth in Singapore calls by tonnage

Singapore is the first major authority to publish bunker-demand data since the outbreak of war in Iran at the end of February, with March's sales at the world's largest marine fuels hub showing a strong year-on-year gain.

The city-state's total demand for conventional and biofuels reached 4.72 million mt in March, up by 6.5% from a year earlier and by 2.3% from February's level, according to data released on Tuesday by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

February's total had been the lowest since June 2025.

Sales for the first quarter as a whole reached 14.51 million mt, up by 11.6% on the year.

Singapore saw a record annual total of marine fuel sales in 2025 of 56.2 million mt. If Q1 2026's sales levels were repeated across the whole of the year, this year's total would reach 58 million mt, up by 3.3% on the year.

Product Breakdown

VLSFO sales were 2.33 million mt in March, up by 0.2% on the year and by 1.2% from February's level.

HSFO sales jumped by 19.5% on the year and by 5.6% on the month to 1.93 million mt in March. HSFO accounted for 41% of total March bunker sales, up from from 36.5% a year ago.

Distillate sales jumped by 5.6% on the year to 352,300 mt, but were down by 5.8% from the previous month. MGO prices have seen the sharpest impact from the Middle East conflict, and this may have prompted lower consumption.

Biofuel bunker blend sales sank by 36.5% on the year and slipped by 0.4% on the month to 92,400 mt in March.

LNG bunker sales - which this article counts separately from the conventional and biofuel bunker total reported above - gained 25.6% on the year but dropped by 17% on the month to 49,000 mt in March.

No methanol or ammonia bunker sales were recorded in March.

Bunker Calls Slip Year-on-Year

In March Singapore saw a total of 3,502 calls for bunkers, up by 2.3% from February, but down by 0.6% from March 2025's level.

That left the average conventional and biofuel bunker stem size at about 1,346 mt in March, compared to a 12-month average of 1,338 mt. 

Prices

Singapore's average VLSFO price in March was $920/mt, according to Ship & Bunker prices, compared to $569/mt in February and $517.50/mt in March 2025.

Singapore's average MGO price was $1,624/mt, up from $686/mt in February and $648/mt in March 2025.

Ship & Bunker's G20-VLSFO Index of average prices across 20 leading bunkering ports was $911.50/mt in March, up from $518.50/mt in February and from $555.50/mt in March 2025.

Bunker prices have surged to multi-year highs after US and Israeli forces carried out strikes on Iran on February 28. Iran subsequently attacked US military bases in the Gulf and vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting shipping through one of the world's most important oil transit routes.

Bulkers and Container Visits Increase

Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: MPA

The total gross tonnage visiting Singapore jumped by 6.9% on the year to 275.9 million GT in March.

This growth was led by the container segment, with a gain of 8.9 million GT on the year.

Tanker calls increased by 5.2 million GT, while bulkers advanced by 635,000 GT.

The mandatory mass flow meter systems used to measure all bunker deliveries in Singapore come with a +/-0.5% margin of error, a level considered more accurate than traditional measurement systems used at most other ports, with the added benefit of all but eliminating volumetric malpractice.

Only licensed companies can supply bunkers in Singapore, and the MPA calculates sales based on the bunker delivery notes of those companies.