Fujairah marine fuel sales hit record low in February

Marine fuel sales in the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah, the world’s third-largest bunkering hub, fell in February to their lowest since data started being published in 2021.

Volumes, excluding lubricants, totalled 554,117 cubic metres (about 549,000 metric tons) for February, showed latest Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The decline reflects slower refuelling demand at key bunker ports in the year so far, against a backdrop of global shipping uncertainty. Sales at top bunker port Singapore also softened recently, hitting its lowest in 20 months.

Volumes at Fujairah fell month-on-month for the key bunker grades, the FOIZ data showed.

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Sales of 380-cst high-sulphur marine fuel dipped 2 percent from January to about 143,000 cubic metres in February. Low-sulphur marine fuel sales, including low-sulphur fuel oils and marine gas oils, fell 7.2 percent to about 412,000 cubic metres.

Some demand was diverted to other ports in the region including Khor Fakkan and Jebel Ali, offering more competitive prices in some instances, a Dubai trading source said.

The market share of high-sulphur bunkers narrowed to 26 percent in February, compared with 29 percent in January. Low-sulphur bunkers’ share widened to 74 percent versus 71 percent.