Asia/Pacific News
Singapore Bunker Demand Sees Surprise March Surge
Bunker sales in Singapore, the world's largest marine fuels hub, saw an unexpected jump in March, apparently shrugging off the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic so far.
Total sales rose to 4.332 million mt last month, according to preliminary data from Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority, up by 11.41% from February and by 5.66% from March 2019.
The gain may come as a shock to the bunker industry, as March saw some of the heaviest impact of the virus on shipping.
But crude prices also collapsed in March with the falling-out in the OPEC+ coalition, and this may have prompted some shipowners to buy more bunkers than they would have otherwise.
Calls at the port for bunkering surged by 7.14% from a year earlier to 3,557 ships, meaning the average stem size slipped by about 17 mt on the year to about 1,215 mt.
Very low sulfur fuel oil and 0.5% sulfur gasoil and diesel sales climbed by 9.17% from February's levels to 3.055 million mt in March, while high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) sales advanced by 19.12% to 738,400 mt.
Sales of 0.1% sulfur gasoil and ultra low sulfur fuel oil gained 5.52% on the month to 485,400 mt, the MPA said.
