UAE’s Fujairah marine fuel sales extend monthly climb

February 18, 2025 551

The bunker volumes were up 3.7 per cent from December, but down 6.8 per cent compared to the same month last year

Marine fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah, a key bunker hub in the Middle East, extended gains for a second straight month in January but edged lower versus the same month last year, latest data showed.

Volumes, excluding lubricants, totalled 628,663 cubic metres (about 622,700 metric tons) for January, based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by industry information service provider S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The bunker volumes were up 3.7 per cent from December, but down 6.8 per cent compared to the same month last year.

The climb was led by strong sales of 380-cst high-sulphur marine fuel at the port, which climbed 15.9 per cent from December to about 185,000 cubic metres.

Fujairah marine fuel bunker sales hit new records

In contrast, low-sulphur marine fuel sales, including low-sulphur fuel oils (LSFO) and marine gasoils (MGO), fell 0.7 per cent to about 443,600 cubic metres for January.

This widened the market share of high-sulphur bunkers further to 29 per cent in January, compared with 26 per cent in December.

Fujairah port had retained its ranking at the world’s third-largest bunker hub as of 2024, though volumes have been capped by demand diversion to other neighbouring ports as well as broader geopolitical shipping risks in the region.

Fujairah bunker sales by month, in cubic meters:

Month Total Sales M-o-M Y-o-Y
Jan-24 674,632 2.4% 6.6%
Feb-24 633,436 -6.1% 10.7%
Mar-24 700,918 10.7% 25.2%
Apr-24 638,960 -8.8% 7.1%
May-24 615,462 -3.7% -0.8%
Jun-24 610,765 -0.8% 0.9%
Jul-24 621,679 1.8% -5.7%
Aug-24 656,034 5.5% -3.2%
Sep-24 614,929 -6.3% -2.2%
Oct-24 635,471 3.3% -2.9%
Nov-24 606,042 -4.6% -0.7%
Dec-24 606,427 0.1% -7.9%
Jan-25 * 628,663 3.7% -6.8%

Breakdown of volumes by grade for Jan-25:

180cst LSFO 380cst LSFO MGO LSMGO 380cst HSFO Lubricants
2,141 403,717 79 37,635 185,091 4,351

Data source: Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights

(1 cubic metre = 6.29 barrels)

(1 metric ton = 6.35 barrels for fuel oil)