SINGAPORE - Marine fuel sales at the Middle Eastern bunker hub of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, rebounded in October versus September but posted a year-over-year decline for a fourth straight month, the latest data showed.

Sales volumes at the world's third-largest bunker port, excluding lubricants, totalled 635,471 cubic metres (about 629,500 metric tons) in October, showed Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The sales climbed 3.3% month-on-month to a two-month high, but fell 2.9% from the same month last year, the data showed.

Ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have affected refuelling demand in the region over the past months, trade sources said.

Total low-sulphur bunker sales, including residual fuels and marine gasoils, fell 7.3% to 435,000 cubic metres in October from the previous month.

Meanwhile, total high-sulphur fuel sales strengthened, with volumes soaring 37.5% month-on-month to about 201,000 cubic metres.

The uptrend was in line with that seen at other bunker hubs such as Singapore, as some buyers took advantage of the cheaper prices versus low-sulphur fuels amid a relatively wide price spread in October.

The market share of high-sulphur bunkers widened to 32% in October compared with 24% in September, while low-sulphur bunkers narrowed to 68% from 76%.

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

Month

Total Sales

M-o-M

Y-o-Y

Jan-24

674,632

2.4%

6.6%

Feb-24

633,436

-6.1%

10.7%

Mar-24

700,918

10.7%

25.2%

Apr-24

638,960

-8.8%

7.1%

May-24

615,462

-3.7%

-0.8%

Jun-24

610,765

-0.8%

0.9%

Jul-24

621,679

1.8%

-5.7%

Aug-24

656,034

5.5%

-3.2%

Sep-24

614,929

-6.3%

-2.2%

Oct-24 *

635,471

3.3%

-2.9%

Monthly bunker sales by grade, in cubic metres:

Month

180cst LSFO

380cst LSFO

380cst HSFO

MGO

LSMGO

Lubricants

Jan-24

341

436,604

207,124

122

30,441

4,372

Feb-24

1,000

407,799

192,753

210

31,674

4,420

Mar-24

924

463,245

198,273

321

38,155

5,171

Apr-24

742

434,918

171,841

634

30,825

3,734

May-24

464

422,659

163,893

61

28,385

4,592

Jun-24

1,088

428,138

149,951

216

31,372

4,792

Jul-24

1,411

411,366

177,349

241

31,312

4,204

Aug-24

845

432,003

187,002

227

35,957

4,450

Sep-24

901

440,168

146,131

194

27,535

4,689

Oct-24 *

2,540

403,915

200,894

88

28,034

3,645

Data source: Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights

(1 cubic metre = 6.29 barrels)

(1 metric ton = 6.35 barrels for fuel oil)

(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Eileen Soreng)