Spot premiums for Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) softened in Asia on Friday, while the market eyed cautious demand for bunkering following a recent oil spill in Singapore.
Broader bunkering operations remained largely unaffected, market sources said, though demand was slow during the week.
Marine fuel suppliers were reminded to keep the vessel hulls of their bunker barges clean when entering storage terminals to lift fuel, sources said.
Meanwhile, spot demand for marine fuel was tepid in the week. Some vessels were cautious about entering the port amid concerns of oil stains, a source from a shipping company said.
The oil spill happened after a Netherlands-flagged dredger struck a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel on June 14 in the southern port of Pasir Panjang.
So far, price premiums of VLSFO bunker fuel at Singapore have been largely stable week-on-week, holding slightly above $10 a metric ton, based on data from market sources.
However, cargo premiums of VLSFO remained depressed, trading lower to $1 a ton on Friday, while high-sulphur premiums held largely unchanged at the end of the trading week.
Refining margins for fuel oil were broadly stable, with VLSFO cracks holding near premiums of $9 a barrel and HSFO 380-cst cracks hovering at discounts of about $5 a barrel, based on LSEG data.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
