Spot premiums for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) dropped further on Thursday, with lower-priced trades emerging, while onshore inventories at Singapore rose for a third consecutive week.
Imports recovered week-on-week, latest data from Enterprise Singapore showed, with most cargoes hailing from the United Arab Emirates. Supplies from the Middle East to Asia have recovered in recent weeks after peak summer demand retreated.
Regional supplies and western arbitrage supplies to Singapore also firmed, led by an uptick from Indonesia and the United States.
The cargo replenishment has helped relieve weeks of prompt supply tightness, with spot premiums for VLSFO sliding below $8 per ton on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s PTT offered two cargoes of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) for November loading from Sriracha in a tender that closes on Thursday. The cargoes, each of 18,000 tons, are expected to load between Nov. 8-12 and Nov. 20-24.
Benchmarks for HSFO were stable on Thursday as a narrow range of bids and offers prevailed in the spot market with no trades.
SINGAPORE INVENTORIES
– Singapore onshore fuel oil stockpiles STKRS-SIN rose 2.1% to 17.95 million barrels (about 2.83 million metric tons) in the week to Oct. 16, based on data from Enterprise Singapore.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)
