Asia’s refining margins for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) logged weekly declines as of Friday, while spot premiums steadied.
Singapore’s VLSFO cracks closed stable day-on-day at premiums near $10 per barrel, but posted declines of more than 10% week-on-week, based on LSEG data.
The market has been under pressure due to heavy supply arrivals this quarter, which include higher arbitrage volumes from Brazil as well as plentiful regional blendstocks, said industry sources.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Nghi Son this week offered more fuel oil for December via a tender that closes on Dec. 16, a notice on its website showed.
The refiner is looking to sell 10,000 metric tons of fuel oil for loading between Dec. 21 and 23, following a previous tender offering straight-run fuel scheduled for loading from Dec. 16.
In the downstream bunker market, demand has been largely tepid in the week while bunker premiums also softened, according to trade sources.
Singapore’s delivered VLSFO bunker premiums to cargo quotes fell below $10 this week, some sources said, hitting near five-month lows.
INVENTORY DATA
– Fuel oil inventories in the ARA fell 4.2% to 1.29 million tons in the week to Dec. 12, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
