Bunker fuel sales at the Middle Eastern hub of Fujairah dropped on a monthly basis in April, having reached the highest level in 18 months in March, according to Ship & Bunker.
Total sales excluding lubricants reached 638,960 m3 in April, 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 7.2% from a year earlier, but down by 8.8% from March's level.
April's sales were 0.7% lower than the average seen over the previous 12 months.
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.
180 CST VLSFO sales in Fujairah rose by 54.6% on the year to 742 m3 in April, 380 CST
VLSFO lost 1.6% to 434,918 m3, HSFO jumped by 35.4% to 171,841 m3, MGO climbed by
146.7% to 634 m3 and LSMGO advanced by 15.3% to 30,825 m3.
HSFO took a 26.9% share of the total market last month, up from 21.3% a year earlier.
Fujairah's average VLSFO price in April was $650/mt, up by 1% on the month and by 7.6% on the year, according to Ship & Bunker data.
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.