今年全球船用燃料油需求将下降5%-10%

中国石化新闻网讯 据石化新闻2020年5月28日新加坡报道，一位燃料行业专家说，由于冠状病毒疫情大流行减缓了贸易，并阻碍了许多国家的航运和船员的流动，今年全球船用燃料需求可能会同比下降5%-10%。

新加坡咨询公司SDE International执行董事Simon Neo 5月26日表示：“由于低硫燃料油（LSFO）的强劲需求，全球主要燃料供应中心的燃料油销量可能在今年前几个月里出现增长。”

Neo表示，船东由于原油价格暴跌购买了更多的LSFO，新加坡4月份燃料油销量同比上升。新加坡海事和港务局的统计数据显示，今年4月份的LSFO销量增长了10.82%或40.16万吨。

然而，Neo表示，由于新加坡最新的GDP前景指向急剧收缩，这种增长势头可能无法可持续。新加坡贸易工业部(MTI) 5月26日表示，新加坡今年的GDP预计将萎缩4%至7%，低于此前预计的萎缩1%至4%。

Neo说，尽管如此，新加坡今年的燃料油需求可能会保持稳定，因为船东们继续对这个全球最大的燃料油港口抱有信心。

在新加坡，Minerva Bunkering和TFG Marine这两家公司最近也以特许燃料供应商的身份进入了其燃料油市场。与此同时，有消息称，Hin Leong贸易公司旗下的海洋燃料补给服务公司（OBS）已从4月18日起暂时停止燃料补给业务。OBS是顶级实体燃料补给供应商之一。

Neo表示，由于目前的市场结构能够满足现有需求，OBS暂停运营不太可能对新加坡的燃油供应动态产生重大影响。

李峻 编译自 石化新闻

原文如下：

Global bunker fuel demand set to drop 5%-10% on COVID-19 pain - expert

Global bunker fuel demand is likely to fall by 5%-10% year on year in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic slows trade and impedes shipping and ship crew movements in many countries, a bunker industry expert said.

"Major bunkering hubs worldwide likely saw their bunker fuel sales rise in the first few months of 2020 due to strong LSFO [low sulfur fuel oil] demand. But the COVID-19 crisis has caught the world off-guard," Simon Neo, executive director at Singapore-based consulting firm SDE International, told on May 26.

Singapore's April bunker fuel sales volume rose year on year as shipowners availed larger stems of LSFO amid the collapse in crude oil prices, Neo said. On the year, April sales volume rose 10.82% or 401,600 mt, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed.

However, this momentum may not be sustainable as the country's latest GDP outlook points towards a sharp contraction, Neo said.

Singapore's GDP is expected to shrink between 4% and 7% this year, lower compared with the previous projection of between 1% and 4% contraction, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, or MTI, said on May 26.

Still, bunker fuel demand in Singapore will likely remain steady this year as shipowners continue to repose faith in the world's largest bunkering port, Neo said.

Singapore also saw two players -- Minerva Bunkering and TFG Marine -- enter its bunker market recently as licensed bunker suppliers. This comes as Ocean Bunkering Services, a subsidiary of Hin Leong Trading and among the top physical bunker suppliers, was heard to have temporarily ceased bunkering operations from April 18 onwards.

Neo said that OBS' suspension of operations was unlikely to have a significant impact on Singapore's bunker dynamics as the present market structure can cater to existing demand.