ANALYSIS: Singapore February Bunker Sales Drop to 21-Month Low

If year-to-date sales were replicated over the rest of 2025, this year's total for Singapore would reach 51.42 million mt, down by 5.6% from 2024's record high. Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: MPA

Marine fuel sales in Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub, sank to the lowest level in 21 months in February.

The city-state's total conventional and biofuel demand reached 4.12 million mt in February, down by 8.2% on the year and by 7.6% from January's level, according to the latest data from the Maritime and Port Authority.

If the total from the first two months of the year were to be replicated over the rest of 2025, this year's total for Singapore would reach 51.42 million mt, down by 5.6% from 2024's record high.

Product Breakdown

VLSFO sales declined by 15.1% on the month to 2.1 million mt in February, HSFO fell by 1.8% to 1.62 million mt, distillates slipped by 15.1% to 314,600 mt and biofuel blends rose by 2.7% to 110,900 mt.

HSFO's share of the total was 39.5%, up from 35.7% the same month a year earlier.

Separately, LNG bunker sales declined by 8.5% on the month to 30,000 mt in February -- the least since November -- while no methanol or ammonia sales were recorded.

Singapore has been including columns for biofuel blends, LNG and methanol sales since June 2023, and added columns for B100 and ammonia at the start of 2025.

Bunker Calls Advance

The number of vessels calling at Singapore to bunker slipped both a monthly and yearly basis in February.

A total of 3,075 vessels came to Singapore's waters to bunker last month, down by 14.1% from January's level, by 8.5% on the year and the least since February 2023.

That left the average conventional and biofuel bunker stem size last month at about 1,338 mt, compared with an average over the previous 12 months of 1,307 mt.

Prices

Singapore's average VLSFO price in February was $569/mt, down by 3.6% from January's level and by 11.1% from the level seen a year earlier.

Ship & Bunker's G20-VLSFO Index of average prices across 20 leading bunkering ports lost 1.7% on the month and 9.6% on the year to $595/mt in February.

Tanker Visits Drop

Tankers and bulkers saw a sharp drop in tonnage visiting Singapore last month. Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: MPA

The total gross tonnage visiting Singapore sank by 10% on the year to 252.37 million mt in February.

This decline was led by the tanker segment, where calls by gross tonnage lost 12 million mt. Bulkers fell by 12 million mt, while container tonnage calls declined by 108,000 mt.

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 eliminated volumetric malpractice.

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