SINGAPORE: Asia's 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) market nudged higher on Thursday as the cash differential rose to a four-session high of minus 60 cents per tonne and the front-month time spread flipped back to a narrow premium of 25 cents per tonne. But the gains came amid limited trade activity this week, which has seen prices remain largely range-bound, trade sources said.
Singapore residual fuel oil inventories slipped 2% in the week to June 23, falling for a second straight week as net import volumes remained weak, official data showed on Thursday. Onshore fuel oil stocks fell by 574,000 barrels, or about 90,000 tonnes, to a four-week low of 23.4 million barrels, or 3.69 million tonnes, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
Compared with the same period a year earlier, the residual fuel stocks were 12% lower but were on par with the 2021 weekly average of 23.24 million barrels.
Singapore's net imports of fuel oil were down 35%, adding to a 47% drop in the week before, to a four-week low of 323,000 tonnes - less than half of the 2021 weekly average of 730,000 tonnes. Weekly figures, however, are volatile. The largest net imports were from Malaysia at 364,000 tonnes, followed by Brazil at 166,000 tonnes, Thailand at 89,000 tonnes and the United Arab Emirates at 68,000 tonnes.
Singapore residual fuel imports from Thailand were at a more than two-year high and those from Brazil were at a nine-week high. Singapore's top fuel oil net export destinations were China at 120,000 tonnes, the most in five months, followed by Bangladesh at 86,000 tonnes and South Africa at 36,000 tonnes.
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