Overall bunker sales in Singapore expanded by 3.5% y-o-y to 4.25 mmt in April, continuing their unrelenting pace of growth. Sales volumes in Singapore have defied concerns that the introduction of mass flow meters (MFMs) at the beginning of January may lead to higher operating costs and a subsequent dip in demand, with y-o-y growth averaging 6.2% for the first four months of 2017. One reason for the elevated growth this year is the increase in average stem size despite the consecutive y-o-y fall in vessel arrivals for bunkering since January.   

The compulsory usage of MFMs has raised barging costs and eaten into supplier margins, resulting in suppliers forcing shipowners to buy in larger parcels in order to manage costs more efficiently. As such, average stem size in April grew by 7.8% from last year to 1217 mt. This outweighed the fall in vessel calls for bunkering in April, down by 4% y-o-y to 3495.

Sales of the most popular 380cst grade accounted for 3.19 mmt in April, up by 3.7% on the year while sales of the 500cst grade surged by a whopping 16.7% y-o-y to 876 kt. While market share of 380cst bunker fuel is relatively flat at 75.1%, market share of 500cst bunker fuel expanded by 2.3% from last year to 20.6%. Container lines are typically the key buyers of the cheaper 500cst grade. In contrast, MGO volumes dropped by 27.1% on the year to 159 kt as buyers were deterred from the costlier fuel.

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