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Shipping number of the week: High-sulphur fuel oil sales reach 24% of total in Singapore

Nearly a quarter of total bunker sales in Singapore refuelled scrubber-fitted ships with high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) in July, thereby reaching the highest level of HSFO sales so far in 2020 with 24% of total bunker sales – or 988,000 tonnes.

Despite overall uncertainty in the markets, and low demand for shipping, total bunker sales in Singapore reached a four-months high in July. The month showed a 7% growth in total bunker sales compared with the same period last year, and 8.5% growth from last month, with total July bunker sales reaching 4,157.7 thousand tonnes.

“Some pundits argued that the IMO 2020 sulphur regulation would be the demise of high-sulphur fuel oil for the global shipping industry. BIMCO argued differently, and the fact that high-sulphur fuel oil sales now amount to 24% of total sales has not taken us by surprise,” says Peter Sand, BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst.

“In fact, we expect that the share taken up by high-sulphur fuel oil sales will continue to rise as this year progresses, due to a larger share of the fleet getting scrubber-fitted,” Sand says.

Low-sulphur fuel oil refuels the lions’ share of the fleet
Implementation of the IMO 2020 global sulphur cap saw a major disruption in the share split between high-and low-sulphur fuel oil, with the latter taking up 84% of the share in February. In recent months, the share of total sales occupied by the low-sulphur fuels has declined to 76% in July. The change mirrors the rise in the number of ships fitted with a scrubber.
Source: BIMCO

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