Fujairah marine fuel sales hit six-month low in May

Marine fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah fell to a six-month low in May, latest data showed, as tighter inventories capped uptake while lower prices at neighbouring port Khor Fakkan also drew some demand away, trade.

May bunker volumes at the world’s third largest bunkering port, excluding lubricants, totalled 615,462 cubic metres (about 610,000 metric tons), hitting the lowest since November, based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data.

Sales for May dipped 3.7% from April and were down 0.8% from the same month last year, posting its first year-on-year decline and snapping four straight months of annual increases.

Onshore inventories of heavy distillates and residues were lower in May as more fuel oil supplies were diverted to cater to power generation demand for summer.

Meanwhile, lower bunker prices at regional Khor Fakkan port also drew some demand away from Fujairah, some sources said, with prices cheaper by about $5 per metric ton in some cases.

Low-sulphur bunker sales of residual fuels and marine gasoils totalled 451,569 cubic metres at Fujairah in May, down 3.3% from April.

Meanwhile, high-sulphur bunker sales dipped 4.6% from April to 163,893 cubic metres in May.

The market share of low-sulphur bunkers was stable from last month at 73% while high-sulphur bunkers was at 27%.

Bunker sales at Fujairah reached their highest in more than a year in March this year, after Red Sea events disrupted shipping routes and buoyed refuelling demand globally.