UAE's Fujairah Feb marine bunker sales rise 10.7% y/y

By Jeslyn Lerh Singapore, March 18 (Reuters) - February marine bunker fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah port climbed 10.7% from last year, posting a second month of yearly increases, latest data showed. Bunker sales rose after refuelling demand strengthened globally following tensions in the Red Sea, which led to several ships diverting course and taking on more fuel when they pass by key bunker hubs like Singapore and Fujairah. February sales, excluding lubricants, totalled 633,436 cubic metres (about 627,000 metric tons), Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights showed. However, sales were down 6.1% from January, in line with slower demand seen at other hubs like Singapore. While Red Sea shipping disruptions should spur ships to refuel more at the hubs, overall uptake eased in February as some ships took more days to return to the hubs to refuel amid longer voyages, market sources said. Low-sulphur bunker sales of residual fuels and marine gasoils totalled 440,683 cubic metres at Fujairah, down 5.7% from January. Meanwhile, high-sulphur bunker sales were 6.9% lower from January at 192,753 cubic metres in February, the data showed. The market share of low-sulphur bunkers was at 70%, while high-sulphur bunkers was at 30%. Fujairah retained its position as the world's third-largest bunker hub in 2023, though sales have trended lower in the past years. Heightened geopolitical risk in the Middle East have raised risk premiums in the region and resulted in lower bunkering demand in the past year. Fujairah bunker sales by month, in cubic metres, excluding lubricants: Month Total Sales M-o-M Y-o-Y Jan-23 633,023 -8.8% -2.0% Feb-23 572,371 -9.6% -6.5% Mar-23 559,800 -2.2% -19.0% Apr-23 596,330 6.5% -10.3% May-23 620,388 4.0% -16.7% Jun-23 605,374 -2.4% -6.5% Jul-23 659,566 9.0% -0.8% Aug-23 677,503 2.7% -6.3% Sep-23 628,639 -7.2% -5.9% Oct-23 654,153 4.1% -0.1% Nov-23 610,498 -6.7% -4.1% Dec-23 658,638 7.9% -5.1% Jan-24 674,632 2.4% 6.6% Feb-24* 633,436 -6.1% 10.7% Monthly bunker sales by grade, in cubic metres: Month 180cst 380cst 380cst MGO LSMGO Lubricants LSFO LSFO HSFO Jan-23 300 453,703 151,055 796 27,169 4,039 Feb-23 545 389,544 159,908 713 21,661 4,549 Mar-23 250 451,405 81,058 538 26,549 3,475 Apr-23 480 441,912 126,943 257 26,738 4,270 May-23 170 468,635 126,586 2,021 22,976 4,723 Jun-23 573 449,264 127,573 1,088 26,876 4,732 Jul-23 1,272 459,665 174,227 1,387 23,015 4,151 Aug-23 - 450,420 196,343 459 30,281 4,587 Sep-23 - 425,942 172,945 1,688 28,064 3,944 Oct-23 792 449,652 164,107 1,699 37,903 4,499 Nov-23 513 407,503 171,438 2,430 28,614 4,305 Dec-23 2,409 457,756 167,321 685 30,467 4,414 Jan-23 341 436,604 207,124 122 30,441 4,372 Feb-23* 1,000 407,799 192,753 210 31,674 4,420 Data source: Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights (1 cubic metre = 6.29 barrels) (1 metric ton = 6.35 barrels for fuel oil) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)