Singapore January bunker fuel sales rise 12.1% y/y on Red Sea diversions

* Red Sea shipping diversions support demand * VLSFO barge availability tightens * Marine biofuel sales and bunker premiums dip By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Marine bunker fuel sales in Singapore kickstarted 2024 on a firm note, the latest data for January showed, climbing 12.1% year-on-year as shipping disruptions in the Red Sea spurred more ships to refuel in the city-state. Sales at the world's largest bunker hub totalled 4.91 million metric tons in January, data from Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority released late on Wednesday showed. Ships have been topping up more at hubs such as Singapore where fuel is more competitively priced compared to farther-flung ports, market sources said, after a growing number of vessels re-routed around Africa to avoid potential attacks. This supported premiums for low-sulphur bunker deliveries in January, while availability of bunker barges also tightened, leading to a slight dip in sales compared to December. Vessel calls for bunkering rose for a second month to 3,751 in January, though container throughput dipped at 3.31 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). CONVENTIONAL FUELS Low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) sales for bunkering totalled 2.86 million tons in January, up for a second month. Demand will likely see push-and-pull factors in February, said Ivan Mathews, head of FGE's Asia Refining and Global Fuel Oil Service. "Bullish factors include continued diversions and competitive prices versus Zhoushan," said Mathews, referring to the bunkering hub on China's east coast. But, he added that there is downside risk because of seasonally lower demand during the Lunar New Year holidays. High-sulphur marine fuel oil (MFO) sales totalled 1.66 million tons, down 8.4% from December but up 32.6% from January last year. Total marine gasoil sales dipped 1.8% from December to 330,500 tons in January. ALTERNATIVE FUELS Bunker sales of marine biofuel totalled 45,300 tons in January, down 21.9% from December. Spot marine biofuel premiums have softened in early 2024, weighed by lukewarm demand, lower biofuel feedstock costs and a stronger underlying benchmark for residual fuel oil. The market has grown in the last two years as shippers explore lower-carbon alternatives for dirty fuel oil, but broader demand remains slow as shippers tend to buy for sporadic trials and term contracts. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker sales totalled 10,400 tons in January, up 12.6% from December. Singapore monthly bunker sales by grade in '000 tons: Total MGO LSMGO Bio-blend MFO Bio-blend LSFO Bio-blen LNG Methanol ed LSMGO ed MFO ded LSFO Jan-23 4,378.3 10.8 313.7 0.0 1,251.1 0.0 2,774.1 27.2 1.4 0.0 Feb-23 3,796.9 6.2 297.0 0.0 1,142.7 0.0 2,320.0 28.5 1.6 0.0 Mar-23 4,179.0 14.7 315.5 0.0 1,268.0 0.0 2,549.2 27.9 3.7 0.0 Apr-23 4,258.8 15.3 312.2 0.0 1,218.4 1.3 2,669.3 37.0 5.2 0.0 May-23 4,525.3 27.5 312.9 0.0 1,445.2 0.5 2,697.6 34.6 7.1 0.0 Jun-23 3,932.9 12.0 271.5 0.0 1,237.5 1.0 2,358.8 34.3 17.9 0.0 Jul-23 4,517.5 22.3 287.6 0.0 1,484.0 0.5 2,665.2 39.4 18.3 0.3 Aug-23 4,254.1 8.1 274.5 0.0 1,393.0 0.0 2,511.4 52.6 15.6 0.0 Sep-23 4,263.6 20.4 265.0 0.0 1,472.7 0.0 2,454.9 43.0 7.7 0.0 Oct-23 4,401.5 35.7 297.8 0.0 1,451.2 2.3 2,521.7 76.8 16.1 0.0 Nov-23 4,265.5 25.8 288.3 0.2 1,542.4 0.0 2,344.3 57.3 7.2 0.0 Dec-23 5,050.6 24.8 311.6 0.0 1,810.6 0.0 2,836.5 58.0 9.3 0.0 Jan-24 * 4,906.1 13.5 317.0 0.0 1,658.8 0.0 2,861.1 45.3 10.4 0.0 (Data from Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore) (Figures are based on latest available data at the time of publishing, and may be subject to revision at a later date, based on MPA.) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)