Equatorial tops Singapore bunker suppliers for 2022

Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services was the largest bunker supplier in Singapore last year, overtaking Chinese state-controlled PetroChina that took the top spot in 2021.

It was the first time that Equatorial has been the largest supplier, according to Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) data, with sales reaching 4mn-5mn t.

Trafigura-backed TFG Marine took third position, rising by two spots. Vitol Bunkers was fourth with Shell Eastern Trading fifth.

There are now 42 licensed bunker suppliers in Singapore, down from 73 in 2012, as competition in the port has tightened significantly since the introduction of mass flow meters in 2017. The MPA only issued one new supply licence last year, to Sinopec Fuel Oil.

Glencore Singapore fell by seven places to 13th, after its licence was suspended for two months in the wake of a high-sulphur fuel oil bunker contamination crisis hitting the port during the first quarter of 2022.

Singapore bunker sales for 2022 totalled 47.88mn t, down by 4.2pc from a year earlier, because of weaker global bunker demand and increasing regional competition.

By Sammy Six