Marine bunker fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah port recovered in July from a record low in June, posting their first monthly climb this year as supplies were replenished during a brief lull in hostilities between the US and Iran.
In June and July, more tankers were able to exit the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut since the US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February, though volumes remained well below pre-conflict levels, said market sources.
Bunker sales, excluding lubricants, totalled 231,865 cubic metres (about 230,000 tonnes) for July, up from a record low of 86,769 tonnes in June, based on the latest Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by SP Global.
Low-sulphur residual bunker sales more than tripled from the prior month to 145,187 cubic metres in July.
High-sulphur residual bunker sales gained 66 per cent over the same period to 70,312 cubic metres.
Low-sulphur marine gasoil sales more than doubled to 16,198 cubic metres, while other marine gasoils totalled 168 cubic metres, down seven per cent from June.
The market share of low-sulphur bunker fuel widened to 70 per cent in July from 51 per cent in June, while high-sulphur bunker fuel narrowed to 30 per cent from 49 per cent.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sonali Paul)
