UAE’S Fujairah Aug marine fuel sales hit eight-month highs

RoydadNaft – Marine fuel sales at the UAE’s Fujairah, the world’s third-largest bunker hub, scaled eight-month highs in August, although volumes remained lower from a year-ago period, data showed.

Bunker sales at Fujairah provide a gauge of shipping market sentiment in the Middle East.

August bunker sales, excluding lubricants, were at 677,503 cubic metres, or about 671,000 metric tons, up 2.7% month-on-month but down 6.3% from the same month last year, according to the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data, which is published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The uptick in August was driven by a climb in high-sulphur bunker sales, which rose 12.7% month-on-month to 196,343 cubic meters, or about 195,000 metric tons.

Attractive discounts of delivered 380-cst HSFO bunker fuel versus cargo quotes could have spurred uptake in August, based on pricing data provided by industry sources.

Low-sulphur bunker sales of residual fuels and marine gasoils last month totalled 481,160 cubic meters, or about 477,000 metric tons, dipping 0.9% from levels seen in July.

This brought the market share of low-sulphur bunkers down to 71% from 74%, and of high-sulphur bunkers up at 29% from 26%, compared with last month.

Fujairah bunker sales by month, in cubic metres, excluding lubricants:

Month	Total Sales	M-o-M	Y-o-Y
Jan-23	633,023	-8.8%	-2.0%
Feb-23	572,371	-9.6%	-6.5%
Mar-23	559,800	-2.2%	-19.0%
Apr-23	596,330	6.5%	-10.3%
May-23	620,388	4.0%	-16.7%
Jun-23	605,374	-2.4%	-6.5%
Jul-23	659,566	9.0%	-0.8%
Aug-23*	677,503	2.7%	-6.3%

Monthly bunker sales by grade, in cubic metres:

Month	180cst LSFO	380cst LSFO	380cst HSFO	MGO	LSMGO	Lubricants
Jan-23	300	453,703	151,055	796	27,169	4,039
Feb-23	545	389,544	159,908	713	21,661	4,549
Mar-23	250	451,405	81,058	538	26,549	3,475
Apr-23	480	441,912	126,943	257	26,738	4,270
May-23	170	468,635	126,586	2,021	22,976	4,723
Jun-23	573	449,264	127,573	1,088	26,876	4,732
Jul-23	1,272	459,665	174,227	1,387	23,015	4,151
Aug-23*	0	450,420	196,343	459	30,281	4,587

(Data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone published by S&P Global Commodity Insights)