'Soaring' Singapore Demand Sees Monjasa 2020 Sales Gain 8.9% in Shrinking Global Market

Monjasa's bunker sales have jumped by 40% since 2017. Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: Monjasa

Marine fuel supplier Monjasa saw an 8.9% gain in its bunker sales volumes last year and a 13.2% rise in profits, despite a significant decline in the global market, with growth in Singapore and Panama the biggest drivers.

The company saw 4.9 million mt of bunker sales in 2020, up from 4.5 million mt the previous year, it said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. The company's revenues slipped by 10% to $2 billion, but profits climbed by 13.2% to $30 million.

Ship & Bunker and SeaCred's 'Top 10 Bunker Companies for 2021' report, released in December, estimated Monjasa's annual sales at 4.9 million mt.

Shrinking Global Market

"The year commenced with a successful IMO 2020 transition to more environmentally friendly marine fuels across the oil and shipping industries," Monjasa said in the statement.

"The remainder of the year was characterised by disrupted maritime trade flows following the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

"As a direct consequence, the global market for marine fuels decreased substantially.

"Despite this overall development, Monjasa's services and products were more in demand than ever and Monjasa recorded an increase in volumes in each month of 2020 compared to 2019 levels."

Bunker volumes at the world's largest hubs dropped by 6.3% on average last year, according to Ship & Bunker's quarterly survey in conjunction with BLUE Insight.

Singapore, Panama Lead Volumes Gains

Monjasa's sales growth was boosted by its activities in Southeast Asia 'and particularly in the Port of Singapore', it said in the statement, with sales in this region gaining 80% on the year to 900,000 mt.

Singapore's total sales climbed by just 5% last year, according to data from the Maritime and Port Authority.

In the Americas Monjasa saw a 22% increase in sales volumes to 1.4 million mt.

This was "led by high activity levels in the Panama Canal and across the US," the company said.

Total sales in Panama sank by 11% last year, according to the Panama Maritime Authority.

"For 2021, Monjasa foresees increasing global trade uncertainties which are likely to keep changing trade flows and oil demand," the company said.

"To which extent this will impact the overall maritime industry and Monjasa is still unknown, however, Monjasa remains confident of another positive financial result in year 2021."