SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Singapore's marine fuel sales, also known as bunker sales, were steady in
September month-on-month as vessel calls and container throughput saw little changes, official data showed. 
    Sales in September totalled 4.26 million metric tons, up 0.2% from prior month and 7.7% higher year-on-year,
latest data from the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) showed.
    Bunker sales in Singapore are a key indicator of sentiment at the world's largest ship refuelling hub, which is
also one of the busiest shipping lanes globally.
    Singapore's container throughput was 3.7% lower from August's levels, at 3,206,700 twenty-foot equivalent units
in September. The number of vessel calls for bunkering stood at 3,478 last month.
    Low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) sales for bunkering had totalled 2.45 million tons in September, down 2.2% from
August, while high-sulphur marine fuel oil (MFO) sales totalled 1.47 million tons in September, up 5.7% from prior
month. 
    Bunker fuel prices trended higher in September due to an increase in upstream crude oil prices, leading to less
spot buying from shippers. 

    ALTERNATIVE FUELS
    Sales of bio-blended LSFO eased after a steady monthly uptrend into August, falling to 43,000 tons in September.
    Total bio-blended LSFO sales were at 324,460 tons in 2023 so far, the data showed.
    September bunker sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell to 7,700 tons for a second month, with total sales at
78,380 tons to date this year.

    Singapore monthly bunker sales by grade in '000 tons:
   
              Total        MGO        LSMGO        MFO      Bio-blend     LSFO     Bio-blende     LNG      Methanol
                                                             ed MFO                  d LSFO               
 Jan-22        4,029.0        13.8       335.9     1,122.4        0.0     2,555.9         1.0        0.0         0.0
 Feb-22        3,506.8        10.6       280.5       924.1        0.0     2,276.4        12.5        2.7         0.0
 Mar-22        3,769.9         9.7       272.0     1,091.2        0.0     2,393.5         3.3        0.2         0.0
 Apr-22        3,750.0         7.9       278.9       978.5        0.0     2,475.1         9.2        0.4         0.0
 May-22        4,044.0         5.8       300.9     1,094.8        0.0     2,637.3         4.4        0.8         0.0
 Jun-22        3,756.0         6.9       272.4     1,121.0        0.0     2,345.4         8.2        2.1         0.0
 Jul-22        4,119.2        13.8       313.8     1,287.6        0.0     2,499.3         3.2        1.6         0.0
 Aug-22        4,116.3        11.3       330.4     1,263.0        0.0     2,498.2        13.4        0.0         0.0
 Sep-22        3,959.5         6.3       329.4     1,158.3        0.0     2,444.7        19.8        1.0         0.0
 Oct-22        4,252.8        11.1       305.1     1,348.5        0.0     2,564.9        21.5        1.7         0.0
 Nov-22        4,375.6        22.8       307.8     1,290.3        0.0     2,728.6        23.1        2.9         0.0
 Dec-22        4,217.8        20.6       285.6     1,312.4        0.0     2,575.7        20.6        2.9         0.0
 Jan-23        4,378.3        10.8       313.7     1,251.1        0.0     2,774.1        27.2        1.4         0.0
 Feb-23        3,795.9         6.2       297.0     1,142.7        0.0     2,320.0        28.5        1.6         0.0
 Mar-23        4,179.0        14.7       315.5     1,268.0        0.0     2,549.2        27.9        3.7         0.0
 Apr-23        4,258.8        15.3       312.2     1,218.4        1.3     2,669.3        37.0        5.2         0.0
 May-23        4,525.3        27.5       312.9     1,445.2        0.5     2,697.6        34.6        7.1         0.0
 Jun-23        3,932.9        12.0       271.5     1,237.5        1.0     2,358.8        34.3       17.9         0.0
 Jul-23        4,517.5        22.3       287.6     1,484.0        0.5     2,665.2        39.4       18.3         0.3
 Aug-23        4,255.1         8.1       274.5     1,393.0        0.0     2,511.4        52.6       15.6         0.0
 Sep-23 *      4,263.6        20.4       265.0     1,472.7        0.0     2,454.9        43.0        7.7         0.0
 
    (Data from Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore)
    (Figures are based on latest available data at the time of publishing, and may be subject to revision at a later
date, based on MPA.)

    

 (Reporting by Muyu Xu and Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)