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

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.