Marine bunker fuel sales in Singapore rebounded in May after logging monthly declines for four consecutive months, data showed on Friday.

Bunker sales for May totalled 4.83 million metric tons at the world’s largest refuelling hub for ships, edging up 18.4% from April and 19.7% from May last year, showed data from Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA).

Vessel calls at Singapore for bunkering rose 4.2% in May to 3,532 calls, while monthly container throughput totalled 3.54 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 4.4% from April.
The port has been seeing robust container shipping activity in recent months, with container volumes hitting 16.90 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first five months of 2024, logging a 7.7% increase from the same period last year, according to MPA.

CONVENTIONAL FUELS
Sales of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) totalled 2.64 million tons in May, up 17.2% from April.

Meanwhile, high-sulphur marine fuel oil (MFO) sales reached 1.74 million tons, climbing 8.6% month-on-month.

Total marine gasoil (MGO) sales also trended higher, rising 20.3% from April to 345,300 tons in May.

ALTERNATIVE FUELS
Total sales of alternative bunker fuels rose in May, with methanol sales emerging for the first time since July last year.

Container shipper X-Press Feeders and tanker company Stena Bulk each conducted its first bio-methanol refuelling operation at Singapore in May.

Meanwhile, liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker sales reached a fresh monthly record high of 48,800 tons in May, though still lagged behind biofuel sales.

Marine biofuel sales eased 9.4% from April to 54,000 tons in May, though more types of blends were delivered in the month.

Apart from 48,400 tons of the flagship bio-blended LSFO grade, the port authority also recorded sales of 5,300 tons of bio-blended MFO and 300 tons of bio-blended marine diesel (MDO).

Source: Reuters reported by Jeslyn Lerh edited by Chris Reese and Sohini Goswami