Trading momentum in Asia’s spot fuel oil market was largely thin on Thursday, with key benchmark differentials holding steady from the previous session, though onshore inventories eased.
Singapore’s residual fuel inventories fell after climbing for three weeks, though stock levels remained well above average, based on data from Enterprise Singapore.
Indonesia was the top origin of the imports recorded for a second consecutive week. The country’s state refiner, Pertamina, had also closed some tenders for January cargoes.
In other tenders, Indian refiner HPCL offered 33,000 tons of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) for loading from Mumbai between January 5 and 7, based on market sources. The tender closes on Friday.
As for the derivatives market, fuel oil cracks were also little changed in quieter year-end trading.
The 380-cst HSFO crack for January (FO380BRTCKMc1) closed at a discount near $6 a barrel on Thursday, showed LSEG data, while crack for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) (LFO05SGBRTCMc1) was also steady, closing at a premium near $4.35 a barrel.
INVENTORY DATA
– Singapore residual fuel inventories (STKRS-SIN) fell 5.4% week-on-week to 24.66 million barrels (about 3.88 million metric tons) in the week to December 17, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
– Fujairah heavy fuel inventories (FUJHD04) fell 17.4% to 10.68 million barrels (1.68 million tons) in the week to December 15, showed FOIZ data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights
WINDOW TRADES
– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
Source: Reuters
