Total bunker sales at the port of Singapore climbed by 17pc on the year to 5.23mn t in January, on the back of strong demand for conventional marine fuels, according to preliminary estimated data by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
The year started with firm demand growth for conventional fuels, which still constitutes 98pc of the total consumption in Singapore.
The number of vessel arrivals to the city-state rose by over 12pc on the year to 12,031 vessels in January, and the number of bunker vessel arrivals in Singapore also rose by 5.5pc on the year to 3,778.
Meanwhile, demand for alternative marine fuels lagged. Consumption fell by 29pc on the year, extending a downtrend from December when volumes fell by 35pc. Weak regulatory push, on the back of the deferment of IMO's Net-Zero Framework (NZF) in October 2025, coupled with poor margins for biofuel blends has pushed ship-owners to the sidelines to procure on an as-needed basis.
Several of these ship-owners are procuring green fuels to meet compliance requirements, mainly set by the 2pc requirement from FuelEU Maritime, said market participants.
The IMO's deferment of NZF has had a knock-on impact on green fuel projects, newbuild timelines and other investments made by the sector in Asia, and this is expected to weigh on consumption in the medium term, they added.
Most are hoping that IMO will introduce or push policies in its meetings, like the upcoming MEPC84 later this year, and re-energise a sector that is still reeling from the impact of the slowdown in regulatory push.
Biofuel blends
Biofuel blends continued to make up more than 50pc of the total 103,100t of alternative marine fuels bunkered in January. A total of 60,200t of biofuel blends, consisting of used cooking oil methyl ester (Ucome) blended with conventional fuel oils, was delivered in January. This was down by 34pc on the month, and 44pc lower on the year.
Among biofuel blends, demand for B24 and B30 very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) blends halved on the year to 46,000t. This is 35pc lower from the previous month. Consumption of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) blends, which tripled on the year in 2025, also showed signs of slower demand in 2026. January consumption of B24 and B30 HSFO blends were at 14,300t, down by 11pc on the year.
Demand for LNG as a bunker fuel rose by 30pc on the year to 42,600t in January, but was down by 22pc on the month. Overall demand for LNG is expected to be robust, backed by arrivals of newbuilds. LNG dual-fuelled newbuilds continue to dominate the order books, and demand for LNG and bio-LNG is expected to emerge in the coming year.
LNG consumption for bunkering rose by 24pc to 571,400t on the year in 2025.
In conventional fuels, demand for HSFO strengthened in January, continuing an uptrend from 2025, because more buyers leaned towards this lower-priced fuel instead of VLSFO. January HSFO sales hit a record high of 2.16mn t since the implementation of the 0.5pc sulphur cap in 2020, and consumption rose by 30pc on the year by almost 2pc from December.
VLSFO demand was firm, but the increase was not as strong as HSFO. January sales rose by 5.3pc on the year to 2.56mn t. This was down by 9.5pc on the month.
In the low-sulphur marine gasoil (LSMGO) segment, demand was also strong and sales jumped by nearly 57pc on the year to 402,100t, but eased by 2.1pc on the month.
