A bunker vessel prepares to supply fuel to Hin Leong’s Pu Tuo San VLCC supertanker in the waters off Jurong Island in Singapore. (Reuters Photo)

SINGAPORE- Marine fuel sales at Singapore, the world’s largest bunker hub, posted a 2.3 percent monthly decline in August due to softer demand for key conventional fuel grades, data showed on Monday, although marine biofuel sales reached a monthly record high.

Volumes for conventional bunker fuels softened for key grades month-on-month, as some spot demand got diverted to other Asia ports following a spike in Singapore bunker premiums and cargo tightness by late August, market sources said.

August sales totaled 4.56 million metric tons, easing to a two-month low, though logging a 7.2 percent uptick from a year-earlier period, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed.

Vessel calls for bunkering dipped 0.6 percent from July to 3,536 calls last month, although container throughput rose nearly 1 percent to 3.61 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Sales of low-sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) totaled 2.44 million tons in August, down 1.7 percent month-on-month, the MPA data showed.

By late-August, delivered LSFO prices in Singapore were much higher than prices at other Asian ports such as Zhoushan and Shanghai, based on data from bunker traders.

Meanwhile, high-sulfur marine fuel oil (MFO) sales totaled 1.69 million tons, down 4.8 percent from July, but up 21.7 percent from August last year.

High-sulfur sales trended higher annually as scrubber-installed ships took advantage of wider discounts in HSFO prices versus LSFO prices, with the hi-5 fuel oil price spread widening to a six-month high in early September, hitting more than a $180 difference, based on LSEG’s data.

Separately, marine gasoil (MGO) sales in August fell 1.2 percent to 306,800 tons month-on-month, though edging 8.6 percent higher from a year-ago period.

Total marine biofuel sales, including low-sulfur blends, high-sulfur blends and marine gasoil blends, rose to a monthly record high of 67,800 tons in August.

Spot premiums of the delivered B24 marine biofuel grade narrowed to less than $110 per metric ton above 0.5 percent LSFO cargo prices in August, which could have spurred some uptake, according to market sources.

Bunker sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) rebounded month-on-month in August, with volumes at 45,600 tons. 

Meanwhile, the fifth cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 has been picked up by a vessel managed by a company under US sanctions, according to ship tracking data.

The Arctic LNG 2 project by Russia’s Novatek is also subject to Western sanctions over Russia’s war with Ukraine. Novatek has said media allegations the company was involved in establishing and managing a “shadow fleet” for the Arctic LNG 2 project were untrue.

On Sept. 14, the Asya Energy vessel berthed at the plant, and departed fully loaded on Sept. 15, according to data from Kpler and LSEG. The vessel is managed by India-based Ocean Speedstar Solutions, which was designated under sanctions by the US State Department.