Sales of marine fuel, also known as bunker fuel, recovered at top refueling hub Singapore in March as vessel calls for bunkering reached more than two-year highs, official data showed.

Bunker sales are an indicator of sentiment at one of the world’s most major ports and demand also affects fuel oil refining margins in Asia. Singapore’s bunker sales in March rose to 4.18 million tonnes, up 10% month on month and 11% from a year earlier, Maritime and Port Authority data showed.

The rise reflected increasing vessel calls for bunkering, which hit more than two-year highs at 3,476 calls in March.
Demand improved after a lackluster February, when sales hit eight-month lows. Lower upstream crude oil prices in March, which led to lower outright prices for bunkers, encouraged slightly more buying inquiries, trade sources said.

Volumes rose in March for all key bunker grades, including low-sulfur fuel oil, high-sulfur fuel oil and marine gasoil.

Bunker sales of LSFO grades totalled 2.58 million tonnes, up 10% month on month, the data showed.

Sales of HSFO grades totalled 1.24 million tonnes, up 11% from February while marine gasoil sales rose 9% to 330,200 tonnes.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; editing by Jason Neely)