July 22, 2025 [Reuters]- Sales of bunker fuel softened at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah port in the first half of 2025, falling 5% from the same period in 2024, data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) showed.

The emirate of Fujairah, located on the east coast of the UAE near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, is a major bunkering port in the region and a key refuelling point for tankers taking crude on long voyages out of the Gulf.

Bunker volumes from January-June this year totalled 3.7 million cubic metres (about 3.6 million metric tons), compared with 3.9 million cubic metres in the same period last year, based on FOIZ data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Sales in June declined to a four-month low of 563,000 cubic metres, down 8% from May.

Ships were operating more cautiously in the Gulf last month after tensions between Iran and Israel flared, before a ceasefire was reached.

Some traders had expected bunker volumes to taper off slightly. While most ships continued to transit the Strait of Hormuz last month, they tried to minimise time spent in the region due to safety concerns.

However, prior to the recent round of geopolitical tensions, refuelling demand was already tepid for most of this year, some Dubai-based trading sources noted.

Bunker price differentials to benchmark quotes stayed weak for both low-sulphur and high-sulphur bunker grades this year, sources said. Volumes for both grades also dropped year-on-year in the first half, calculations based on FOIZ data showed.