Singapore: Marine bunker fuel sales at Fujairah port in the United Arab Emirates recovered to five-month highs in January, latest data showed, in line with stronger refuelling demand globally following Red Sea events.

January sales, excluding lubricants, climbed 6.6% from the same month last year to 674,632 cubic metres (about 668,000 metric tons), based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data, published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

This was also the first time in more than a year in which the monthly sales posted an annual increase, past data showed.

Ships have been topping up more at bunker hubs globally to secure fuel at more competitive prices after vessels re-routed around Africa to avoid potential attacks.

Sales at the world's top bunker hub Singapore had posted a 12.1% yearly climb in January. Fujairah's high-sulphur bunker sales in January rose 23.8% from December to 207,124 cubic metres, the data showed. Sales of high-sulphur marine fuels have trended higher at key hubs as more scrubber-installed ships came online in recent years.

Meanwhile, low-sulphur bunker sales of residual fuels and marine gasoils totalled 467,508 cubic metres at Fujairah, down 4.8% from December.

This lowered January's market share of low-sulphur bunkers to 69% from 75% in the previous month and raised that of high-sulphur bunkers to 31% from 25%.

Fujairah retained its position as the world's third-largest bunker hub in 2023, though sales have trended lower in the past years amid increased geopolitical risk in the Middle East that raised war insurance premiums.

Fujairah bunker sales by month, in cubic metres, excluding lubricants: Month Total M-o-M Y-o-Y Sales 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% Sep-23 628,639 -7.2% -5.9% Oct-23 654,153 4.1% -0.1% Nov-23 610,498 -6.7% -4.1% Dec-23 658,638 7.9% -5.1% Jan-24 * 674,632 2.4% 6.6% Monthly bunker sales by grade, in cubic metres: Month 180cst 380cst 380cst MGO LSMGO Lubricants LSFO LSFO HSFO 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 - 450,420 196,343 459 30,281 4,587 Sep-23 - 425,942 172,945 1,688 28,064 3,944 Oct-23 792 449,652 164,107 1,699 37,903 4,499 Nov-23 513 407,503 171,438 2,430 28,614 4,305 Dec-23 2,409 457,756 167,321 685 30,467 4,414 Jan-24 * 341 436,604 207,124 122 30,441 4,372 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 Sohini Goswami)