SINGAPORE: The Asian fuel oil margin slipped on Friday as more spot supply appeared out of India, trade sources said.
The November fuel oil crack fell 60 cents to minus $8.23 a tonne to Dubai quotes, Reuters data showed.
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) offered a 180-cst cargo for late October loading, which follows earlier spot offer from Indian Oil Corp for a 380-cst cargo loading in late October, traders said.
Indian Oil Corp last sold a 180-cst cargo loading from Kandla over Oct. 15 to 17 to Mitsui at a discount of $15 a tonne.
India's Essar Oil offered vacuum gasoil for November lifting, a tender document showed.
Indonesia's Pertamina likely sold 30,000 tonnes of 180-cst fuel oil for mid-October loading from Cilacap to Kuo Oil, traders said. The price could not be confirmed.
Vietnam's PV Oil sold 4,500 tonnes of 180-cst fuel oil cargo for Oct. 15 to 19 loading from Vung Ang, Ha Tinh at a premium of about $40 a tonne, an industry source said.
Unpredictable demand from power plant companies usually mean that spot offers from PV Oil are
quite prompt, the source added.
Vietnam exports about three to four cargoes every two months from the country's sole Dung Quat refinery. These cargoes are usually shipped into floating storages off Malaysia and Singapore waters, the source said.
Buyers were still cautiously waiting on the sidelines even though underlying crude oil prices fell more than $3 this week, to a 27-month low.
"Crude oil (prices) dropped hard on Thursday, yet you saw no demand.
So the question is, are bunker fuel traders holding off on buying and calling for a weaker market." said a Singapore-based trader.
"When crude oil was at $98 a barrel, many people said it was a buy call."
Brent crude oil slipped to $91.55 a barrel on Thursday, its lowest since June 2012.
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