UAE's Fujairah March marine bunker sales hit highest in more than a year

By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE, April 16 (Reuters) - Marine bunker fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah port hit their highest in more than a year in March, buoyed by firmer global refuelling demand after Red Sea shipping disruptions, the latest data showed. March bunker sales, excluding lubricants, totalled 700,918 cubic metres (about 694,000 metric tons), based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights. Sales for March climbed 10.7% from February and were up 25.2% from the same month last year, posting a third straight month of yearly increases in 2024 after declining annually for every month in 2023. Total sales for the first quarter of 2024 reached about 2 million tons, up nearly 14% from the same quarter in 2023, in line with stronger quarterly sales at the world's largest bunker hub Singapore. Low-sulphur bunker sales of residual fuels and marine gasoils totalled 502,645 cubic metres at Fujairah in March, up 14.1% from February. Meanwhile, high-sulphur bunker sales climbed 2.9% from February to 198,273 cubic metres in March. The market share of low-sulphur bunkers was at 72% while high-sulphur bunkers was at 28%. Red Sea shipping disruptions have spurred ships to refuel more at key bunker hubs this 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% Mar-24 * 700,918 10.7% 25.2% Monthly bunker sales by grade, in cubic metres: Month 180cst 380cst 380cst MGO LSMGO Lubric LSFO LSFO HSFO ants 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-24 341 436,604 207,124 122 30,441 4,372 Feb-24 1,000 407,799 192,753 210 31,674 4,420 Mar-24 * 924 463,245 198,273 321 38,155 5,171 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 Mark Potter)