Asia’s very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) market weakened further on Monday, while China has issued an additional 3 million metric tons of fuel oil import quotas in 2023 for non-state firms.
The additional quota takes the total for 2023 to 19.2 million tons, following the 16.2 million tons in non-state fuel oil import quotas issued at the start of the year.
Meanwhile, fuel oil price benchmarks have started easing since the previous week.
Singapore’s 0.5% VLSFO cash premium MFO05-SIN-DIF fell below $17 a metric ton on Monday, declining by nearly 25% from its last session. Refining crack for VLSFO LFO05SGDUBCMc1 fell to a premium of $10.90 a barrel.
For high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), cash differentials for the 380-cst grade FO380-SIN-DIF held steady amid thin trade, while margins FO380DUBCKMc1 rose to a discount of $11.86 a barrel.
In tenders, Indian Oil offered HSFO for loading from Vizag in mid-December, market sources said.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
