Bunker fuel sales at the Middle Eastern hub of Fujairah, the world's third-largest marine fuels location after Singapore and Rotterdam, jumped to the highest level seen in 2023 last month, according to Ship & Bunker.
Total sales excluding lubricants reached 659,566 m3 in July, according to the latest data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone and price reporting agency S&P Global Commodity Insights. The total was up by 9% from June's level, down by 0.8% from July 2022 and the highest monthly total since December.
July's sales were 3.8% higher than the average seen over the previous 12 months.
Singapore, the world's largest marine fuels hub, saw conventional and biofuel bunker sales advance by 9.3% on the year and by by 14.9% on the month in July.
180 CST VLSFO sales in Fujairah gained 386% on the year to 1,272 m3 in July, 380 CST VLSFO sank by 11.3% to 459,665 m3, HSFO jumped by 55.3% to 174,227 m3, MGO rose by 34.4% to 1,387 m3 and LSMGO declined by 30.8% to 23,015 m3.
HSFO took a 23.7% share of the total market last month, up from 16.9% a year earlier.
Fujairah's average VLSFO price in July was $575/mt, down by 2.5% on the month and by 47.9% on the year, according to Ship & Bunker data.
Singapore's average VLSFO price in July was was $586/mt, down by 0.4% from June's level and by 41.7% from the level seen a year earlier. Ship & Bunker's G20-VLSFO Index of average prices across 20 leading bunkering ports gained 1.4% on the month and lost 38.5% on the year to $603/mt in July.