Singapore has in 2022 recorded its lowest bunker sales result for the first half (H1) of the year since 2015, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) shows.

Significance: Monthly sales have decreased year-on-year (YoY) in 10 of the last 12 months (for the first time since October 2019), and the latest H1 figure of 22.917m tonnes reinforces this trend.

• Between January and June, rolling six-month volumes fell below 23m tonnes for the first time in 80 months — since May-October 2015.
• And rolling three-month sales have remained below 12m tonnes for five consecutive months — the first time since November 2019.

Marine fuel sales at the world's largest bunker port receded 8.7% YoY to 3.754m tonnes in June.

• Low-sulphur fuel oil 380 (LSFO 380), LSFO 100 and LS MGO were down 4.9%, 29.8% and 1.6% YoY, respectively, whilst MFO 380 recorded an annual growth of 17.9%.

Vessel arrivals and bunker calls

Vessel arrivals of 8,301 (up 14.5% YoY) in June was the highest monthly figure since the pandemic hit in March 2020 as passenger ships almost doubled month-on-month. It was the first time in 27 months that more than 8,000 ships arrived in Singapore.

• Also, rolling six-month arrivals reached their highest level in 14 months in June, at 44,684.
• And total vessel arrivals in H1 were slightly up on the previous year, by 0.7%.

However, despite the positive ship arrival figures, bunker calls dropped 9.3% YoY in June to 2,940.

• Bunker calls have now fallen YoY during 12 successive months.
• H1 bunker calls were down 11.2% YoY to 18,073.
• June's result of 2,940 was only the second time since the start of the current decade that monthly bunker calls had dipped below 3,000.
• And the rolling six-month figure for bunker calls of 18,073 for January-June is the lowest of the 2020s.

What this shows: Whilst vessel arrivals have increased YoY in each of the last three months following seven straight months of negative growth, this has not coincided with a rise in either bunker calls or sales, which have continued to shrink.