Marine Fuel Sales Dip on Trade Worries

Marine Fuel Sales Dip on Trade Worries | OilPrice.com

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Breaking News:

ByCharles Kennedy– Mar 19, 2025, 3:30 AM CDT

Sales of bunkering fuel at top hubs around the world have slowed down due to growing geopolitical uncertainty and Trump’s tariff offensive, Reuters has reported, citing industry sources it did not name.

Marine fuel sales at Singapore and Fujairah—the world’s biggest and third-biggest refueling hubs—totaled 9.78 million tons over the first two months of the year. This was 9% less than the total for the two months in 2024, according to official figures cited by Reuters.

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“There has been a bit of a slowdown in demand as economic activity is lagging. Freight rates are lower as a result as well,” one industry source told the publication.

“Shipping companies are now optimising their operations more cautiously to navigate volatile tariff conditions and geopolitical instability,” the chief executive of a container trading platform told Reuters, adding “The slowdown in marine fuel demand is a reflection of the broader uncertainty in global trade.”

One trader from the industry told Reuters it was uncertain where the dip in demand for bunkering fuel had come from. Normally, that trader said that if demand for fuel from one hub, such as Singapore, dips, demand elsewhere jumps, but this is not the case this time.

“We are unsure where demand has vanished to,” the trader, in Asia, told Reuters. “Typically if Singapore demand is slow, we might see an uptick in demand from other ports (in the region) but that’s not happening.”

Last year, demand for bunkering fuel rose, boosted by the longer journeys maritime companies were forced to undertake to avoid the Red Sea where the Yemeni Houthis targeted commercial vessels associated with Israel and its Western allies.

The Red Sea is the shortest route from Asia to Europe but with that risky, a lot of maritime transport companies rerouted around Africa, which added weeks to journeys, boosting demand for fuel.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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