Business

Argus Media: Bunker fuel sales fall and premiums narrow in Fujairah

‘When someone bid at a $45/t discount, I responded “I will buy from you at that price rather than sell.” I shut my laptop and stopped working on that day,’ a bunker supplier said.

Published

6 years ago

June 8, 2020

Admin

Elshan Aliyev of the global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus Media on Friday (5 June) published an analysis of bunker sales and premiums at Fujairah being squeezed as they narrow in a well-supplied market despite the rise in oil prices:

Marine fuel sale volumes at the Middle East’s main bunkering and storage hub of Fujairah, UAE, fell in May and in the first week of June.

Bunker sellers at the port linked the lower demand levels to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and to rising prices, which have been following crude higher.

“We have seen a fall in bunker demand because of Covid-19. The impact was less evident in March and April because contractual obligation had to be implemented. A number of vessels are stuck in [Asia-Pacific] and that is one of the reasons why we saw such a fall in May,” a bunker trader said.

Demand was partly curtailed because some larger tankers have been used as floating storage in the absence of vacant onshore capacity, meaning they did not need to use fuel. Stocks of various products have been high at Fujairah’s 10mn m³ of onshore storage in recent weeks, according to storage operators.

Fujairah does not publish official statistics, but the total amount of marine fuels involved in deals reported to Argus fell by around 11% in May from April, to 170,000t. Argus assesses delivered bunker stems for 0.5% very low-sulphur (VLSFO), high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) and low-sulphur marine gasoil (LSMGO) based on deals submitted by bunker suppliers, traders and vessel firms.

The amount of delivered VLSFO bunkers, the prevalent grade sold at Fujairah, fell by 16% on the month in May to 150,000t, as reported by market participants. Demand rose for HSFO 380cst fuel oil in May, with reported sales rising by more than 50% to 16,000t.

Overall demand may be lower because buyers choose to refuel in Singapore, to take advantage of the narrowing Singapore-Fujairah price spread from premiums of above $20/t in early May to parity or even small discounts from the middle of the month.

An increase in crude and cargo prices may have led bunker buyers to be more cautious in deciding the size of their purchases. As the average weekly VLSFO price rose from $191.50/t in early May to $262.50/t on 29 May, more bunker deals were fixed for small- and medium-sized cargoes, ranging as low as 150t and as high as 700t.

Although price rose, bunker sellers became increasingly anxious of premiums being squeezed in a well-supplied market. Suppliers typically sell cargoes at a discount to Singapore 10ppm gasoil spot assessments. At the start of May the discount was around -$12-14/t, some deals during the last week of the month were fixed at $27-35/t below the 10ppm gasoil prices. In the first week of June, the discounts were at -$40-45/t.

“When someone bid at a $45/t discount, I responded ‘I will buy from you at that price rather than sell.’ I shut my laptop and stopped working on that day,” a bunker supplier said.

Photo credit and source: Argus Media
Published: 8 June, 2020

Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

Published

14 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July).

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions.

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Published

14 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Published

14 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post.

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024.

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026