Total sales at the bunker hub of Singapore fell by 6.8pc on the year to 4.55mn t in May, but recovered by 4.5pc on the month from a weak April, according to data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) released today.
May demand rebounded from April, when sales hit a 14-month low.
Weak demand for conventional bunkers due to the US-Iran war continued to weigh on fuel supplies as well as demand from ships refuelling at the port, said local traders.
Some ships have changed routes and diverted to China due to cheaper fuel options, while there were less bunkering opportunities for larger ships like VLCCs due to the reduced supplies coming out from the strait of Hormuz, said traders and a shipping broker.
Very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) consumption fell by 6.5pc on the year to 2.29mn t in May, while high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) sales fell by 5.2pc on the year to 1.79mn t. Likewise, sales of low-sulphur marine gasoil (LSMGO) fell by 4.3pc on the year to over 327,000t. More charterers and shipowners reduced bunker purchases and took only minimal quantities for voyages, given higher prices in May. Competitive prices at other regional Asian ports, like Zhoushan, weighed on overall bunker demand in Singapore.
This trend has extended to June, with spot demand remaining slow and smaller stems traded for key bunker grades, said traders and suppliers.
Meanwhile, vessel arrivals rose by over 3pc on the year and almost 8pc on the month to 11,729, which provided some support to bunker demand compared with April despite cautious buying sentiment. Singapore's VLSFO sales rose by 4.7pc on the month while HSFO sales increased slightly by 0.4pc in May. LSMGO sales were also up by around 28pc on the month.
On the alternative fuel front, the total volume of all alternative marine fuels bunkered in Singapore fell by 23pc on the year in May. A total of 137,800t of alternative fuels were bunkered in May and the year-to-date total stands at 650,100t. A total of 1.6mn t of alternative marine fuels was bunkered in Singapore in 2025, including all biofuel blends, B100 and LNG.
The sharpest drop among all green marine fuels came from biofuels in May. Demand for biofuels in shipping plunged by 57pc on the year to 60,800t for May from a year earlier.
Among the biofuel blends, VLSFO blend consumption fell by 62pc on the year to 36,400t, the lowest in more than two years. The last time B24 and B30 VLSFO blend demand fell below 30,000-40,000t was in February 2024.
Stronger economics due to the rise in conventional bunker prices since the war started has also pushed ship owners to consider bunkering B100 and mass balancing to meet compliance requirements.
B100 consumption in Singapore increased more than fivefold from a year earlier to a record high of 12,800t in May.
Demand for LNG as a bunker fuel continued to grow, rising by 56pc on the year to a fresh monthly record high of 70,300t. The number of LNG dual-fuelled vessels in order books is higher compared with other newbuilds fuelled by other sustainable fuels, industry data show. The expected delivery of a number of newbuilds this year among key shipowners has also kept the momentum high in terms of demand.
Total LNG bunker sales in Singapore stood at 263,300t on a year-to-date basis, and is on track to breach last year's total at 571,400t by the end of 2026.
