Marine Fuel Sales in 2024 Break Records at Singapore Hub

Marine fuel sales reached fresh highs at the world's largest bunker hub of Singapore in 2024, official data showed on Wednesday, driven by record container throughput and higher deliveries of alternative marine fuels.

Sales totalled 54.92 million metric tons in 2023, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed. Total sales surpassed a previous record of 51.82 million tons in 2023.

Container throughput climbed to 41.12 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2024, also logging new highs. Meanwhile, annual vessel arrival tonnage grew to a fresh record of 3.11 billion gross tons (GT).

More bunker volumes emerged in 2024 as shipping tensions in the Red Sea altered refuelling patterns and buoyed marine fuel demand, while shipowners also lifted more alternative fuels to support emission cuts, said industry sources.

The year also saw significantly stronger sales in high-sulphur marine fuel, with volumes totalling 20.15 million tons, up 21% from 2023, calculations based on MPA data showed.

The uptick in high-sulphur marine fuel sales came amid a higher fleet of vessels fitted with scrubbers.

In contrast, sales of low-sulphur fuel dropped 4% year-on-year to 29.58 million tons.

Meanwhile, sales of alternative bunker fuels exceeded one million tons for the first time, reaching 1.34 million tons in 2024, doubling from 2023, said MPA.

Sales of biofuel blends grew to about 880,000 tons, up more than 69% from 2023, while sales of liquefied natural gas for bunkering rose to over 460,000 tons, more than quadrupling.

(Reuters - Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Bernadette Baum)