Singapore Bunker Sales Hit Nine-Month High

Sales of marine fuel at Singapore rose to a nine-month high in October, led by an increase in container throughput and vessel calls for bunkering, data from Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed on Thursday.

Bunker sales at the world's largest vessel refueling hub totaled 4.88 million metric tons in October, up 11% both month-on-month and year-on-year, the data showed.

Total vessel calls for bunkering rose 5.7% from September to 3,452 in October, while container throughput firmed 6.5% to 3.51 million TEUs.

Volumes for the mainstay low-sulfur fuel grade totaled 2.51 million tons in October, up 11% from September, as spot demand picked up amid weaker bunker premiums.

Meanwhile, volumes for high-sulfur marine fuel jumped to more than 1.8 million tons, hitting multi-year highs, said sources.

Demand strengthened this year as more ships with scrubbers came online, while some buyers took advantage of the cheaper prices versus low-sulfur bunkers amid a relatively wide price spread in October.

Marine gasoil sales also firmed, trending higher for a second consecutive month to 351,300 tons.

Biofuel sales maintained the strong momentum seen last month, extending to a record high and breaching 139,000 tons in October.

The higher marine biofuel demand came from term lifting from European liners, as well as steady spot demand from some northeast Asian shipowners, sources said.

Meanwhile, liquefied natural gas volumes also climbed, with monthly sales rising 37% month-on-month to 50,600 tons.

(Reuters - Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)