Fujairah marine fuel sales rise 22% to record high

Sales volumes of marine fuel in the UAE's Fujairah marine refuelling and oil storage hub jumped by 22 per cent in October to the highest since records began in January, spurred by increased regional shipping demand, official data showed.

Fujairah’s October bunker sales volumes totalled 776,000 cubic metres, according to the latest data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data, equivalent to about 743,000 tonnes, Reuters calculations showed.

In September, Fujairah bunkering volumes sank to a six-month low of 636,000 cubic meters.

A Dubai-based bunker fuel trader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said more dry bulk and tanker ships had used the hub as trade had recovered strongly following an easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Fujairah bunkers were also slightly cheaper than Singapore, which had driven demand, the trader added.

The high bunkering volumes were in spite of a rise in oil prices to their highest levels since 2014 in late-October.

Combined low-sulphur bunker sales in October were up 24 per cent from the previous month to a record high of 641,000 cubic meters, Reuters calculations showed.

The share of low-sulphur sales to overall bunker volumes climbed to 83 per cent in October, compared with 81 per cent in September and a 2021 monthly average of 83 per cent, Reuters calculations showed.

Sales of the mainstream 380-cst very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) increased by 24 per cent to a record high of 606,000 cubic meters in October, while those of 380-cst high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) reached a record high of 135,000 cubic meters, up 14 per cent from the previous month.

So far this year, Fujairah bunker sales have totalled 6.74 million cubic meters, or about 6.46 million tonnes, Reuters calculations showed.

In Singapore, the world’s top bunkering hub, marine fuel sales jumped to a six-month high of 4.26 million tonnes in October, recovering from a 15-month low in September as average loadings hit their highest in nearly four years. — Reuters