China bunker sales drop 10-20% on year to 800,000 mt in July: sources

Bunker fuel sales in China dropped by 10-20% to 800,000 mt in July, various suppliers said. They attributed the lower sales to slow steaming by vessels to reduce fuel consumption and lower prices in Russia's Far East.
For instance, Japan's NYK Line said in its financial statement released on July 31 that "markets remained in a slump during the period (April-June 2013) due to the continued supply-demand imbalance caused by excess supply. In this environment, the NYK Group strove to reduce costs by expanding slow steaming to its entire fleet and implementing other group-wide measures to further reduce fuel consumption".
A Chinese bunker supplier said: "Shipping companies used to take 1,000-1,200 mt of bunker fuel at one loading, but these days the volume is only 500-700 mt."
Also, vessels are going to Russia's Far East for bunkering because prices there are lower, the suppliers said.
Prices in Far East Russia are typically about $100/mt lower than in Singapore, where bunker prices are the lowest in Asia. As a result, bunker demand in Russia in April doubled year on year to 250,000-300,000 mt/month. The volume is still at that level, a bunker trader said Friday.
Source: Platts