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SINGAPORE: Marine fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah dipped to a three-month low in September, latest data showed, largely led by a sharp drop in high-sulphur marine fuel volumes.
Sales volumes at the world's third-largest bunker port, excluding lubricants, totalled 614,929 cubic metres (about 609,000 metric tons) in September, showed Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Some cargo-loading delays slowed overall bunker lifting activities last month, market sources said. The sales volume was down 6.3% from August and 2.2% from September last year.
High-sulphur fuel sales fell 21.9% month-on-month to about 146,000 cubic metres, while total low-sulphur bunker sales including residual fuels and marine gasoils were little changed at 469,000 cubic metres.
The weaker high-sulphur sales emerged amid a narrower Hi-5 spread <FO05-380SGMc1>, which is the premium of VLSFO over 380-cst high sulphur fuel.
From more than $180 a ton in early September, the spread narrowed to less than $135 into mid-September, before steadying between $140 and $150 into late-September, based on LSEG's prompt-month data. <FO05-380SGMc0>
The market share of low-sulphur bunkers widened to 76% in September, while that of high-sulphur bunkers narrowed to 24%.
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% |
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 |
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 Subhranshu Sahu)
