Marine fuel demand in Panama declined on both a monthly and yearly basis in April as low water levels limited transits through its canal, according to Ship & Bunker.
Panama's total sales reached 375,848 mt in April, according to preliminary data from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP). The total was down by 2.3% from a year earlier, by 4% from March's level and the lowest monthly total since February. Singapore, the world's largest marine fuels hub, saw conventional and biofuel bunker sales drop by 1.3% on the year by 4.7% on the month in April.
VLSFO sales in Panama lost 17.4% on the year to 225,732 mt in April. HSFO gained 63.1% to 114,093 mt, MGO sank by 39% to 6,335 mt and LSMGO slipped by 4.2% to 29,688 mt. HSFO's share of the total was 30.4%, up from 18.2% a year earlier. The number of ships coming to Panama to bunker declined by 15.8% on the year to 500 in April, taking the average stem size up by 16.1% to about 752 mt. So far this year the average stem size has been about 760 mt.
The VLSFO price at Balboa averaged $670/mt in April, according to Ship & Bunker data, up by less than 0.1% from March's level and by 6.8% from April 2023. Singapore's average VLSFO price in April was $649/mt, up by 1% from March's level and by 7.4% from the level seen a year earlier. Ship & Bunker's G20-VLSFO Index of average prices across 20 leading bunkering ports gained 0.6% on the month and 6.8% on the year to $668.50/mt in April.