Bunker fuel sales at the Middle Eastern hub of Fujairah, the world's third-largest marine fuels location after Singapore and Rotterdam, dropped to the lowest level in at least two years last month.
Total sales excluding lubricants slipped by 6.5% on the year to 572,371 m3 in February, according to the latest data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone and price reporting agency S&P Global Commodity Insights.
The total was down by 10.1% from January's level, and was the lowest since at least the start of 2021, when the data was first compiled in its current format.
Singapore saw sales rise by 8.3% year-on-year in February but drop by 13.3% from January's level.
180 CST VLSFO sales in Fujairah gained 263.3% on the year to 545 m3, 380 CST VLSFO sank by 15.7% to 389,544 m3, HSFO jumped by 27.5% to 159,908 m3, MGO dropped by 48.9% to 713 m3 and LSMGO declined by 7.5% to 21,661 m3.
HSFO took a 27.9% share of the total market last month, up from 20.5% a year earlier.
Fujairah's average VLSFO price in February was $636.50/mt, down by 0.3% on the month and by 14.3% on the year, according to Ship & Bunker data.
Singapore's average VLSFO price in February was $643/mt, down by 0.4% from January's level and by 12.4% from the level seen a year earlier.
Ship & Bunker's G20-VLSFO Index of average prices across 20 leading bunkering ports gained 0.2% on the month and lost 10.1% on the year to $665/mt in February.