Tokyo (Platts)--17Feb2011/616 am EST/1116 GMT
Japan sold 4.64 million kiloliters (29.17 million barrels) of bonded bunker fuel in 2010, down 7.3% from 5 million kl a year earlier, data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Tuesday showed. Demand has been weak in 2010 because of higher prices, said a refinery source. "Fewer vessels came to Japan to take bunker fuel," he added. Japan 380 CST bunker fuel averaged $510.27/mt in 2010, a premium of $45.22/mt to Singapore 380 CST bunker fuel, Platts data showed. The premium averaged $27.40/mt in 2009, when Japan 380 CST prices averaged $374.60/mt. Japan's bunker sales have dipped on a year-on-year basis for five years in a row, METI data showed. Marine diesel oil sales came in at 99,103 kl, plunging 23.4% from a year earlier, the data showed. The country sold 386,370 kl of bunker fuel in December, down 5.9% month on month, according to the data. Bonded marine diesel sales plunged 42.5% to 5,800 kl in December from a year ago, METI said.--Atsuko Kawasaki, atsuko_kawasaki@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Bunkerwire. See more information at http://bit.ly/Bunkerwire