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Singapore: Sales of marine fuel at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah, a key Middle Eastern bunker hub, edged higher in 2024 after a downtrend in previous years, latest data showed. Volumes, excluding lubricants, totalled 7.6 million cubic metres (about 7.5 million metric tons) for 2024, up 1.9% from 2023, based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by industry information service provider S&P Global Commodity Insights this week.
The port retained its position as the world's third-largest bunker hub as of 2024, with volumes hovering above China's Zhoushan volumes of 7.26 million tons.
The volume recovery was led by higher refuelling demand in the first half of 2024, as shipping disruptions elsewhere prompted more liftings at key bunker ports globally, while stem size of deliveries also rose, said industry sources.
Sales of high-sulphur fuel oils (HSFO) was also stronger year-on-year, with volumes up 17% from 2023 to more than 2.1 million cubic meters in 2024, in line with the uptrend at other hubs like Singapore which also logged more HSFO sales.
This brings the market share of high-sulphur bunkers in Fujairah to 28% in 2024, up further from 24% in 2023 and 20% in 2022.
More scrubber-fitted vessels have come online and could opt to refuel with HSFO as a cheaper alternative. Meanwhile, low-sulphur marine fuel sales, including low-sulphur fuel oils (LSFO) and marine gasoils (MGO), fell 3% to about 5.5 million tons in 2024.
Further gains in Fujairah bunker volumes were capped by some demand diversion to neighbouring ports including Khor Fakkan, which was able to offer more competitively-priced marine fuel in some instances, some sources said.
Increasing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have dampened refuelling demand at Fujairah port in recent years due to higher risk premiums, with bunker sales softening for two consecutive years before a rebound in 2024.
In contrast, other ports have seen refuelling volumes trending up in recent years, with bunker sales at Singapore and Zhoushan both hitting fresh highs in 2024 respectively.
Fujairah bunker sales by month in 2024, excluding lubricants, in cubic meters: Month Total Sales M-o-M Y-o-Y Jan-24 674,632 2.4% 6.6% Feb-24 633,436 -6.1% 10.7% Mar-24 700,918 10.7% 25.2% Apr-24 638,960 -8.8% 7.1% May-24 615,462 -3.7% -0.8% Jun-24 610,765 -0.8% 0.9% Jul-24 621,679 1.8% -5.7% Aug-24 656,034 5.5% -3.2% Sep-24 614,929 -6.3% -2.2% Oct-24 635,471 3.3% -2.9% Nov-24 606,042 -4.6% -0.7% Dec-24 606,427 0.1% -7.9% 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 Rashmi Aich)