Singapore bunker prices rose on Wednesday on support from tight prompt supply and Tuesday's rise in benchmark crude to its highest level in a year, traders said.
Traders said prices for low-viscosity 380-centistoke (cst) were pegged at $167 a tonne, up $2 from Tuesday, while low viscosity 180-cst was pegged as high as $176, mostly stable from Tuesday despite a fall in benchmark 180-cst cargo prices.
"Low-viscosity bunker prices are supported by demand for blendstock," a Singapore based trader with a Western firm said.
About five million tonnes of mostly high-viscosity fuel oil is expected to arrive in Singapore in the second half of March and in April. Much of that will need to be blended with lower-viscosity material before it is resold across the region.
Traders said inquiries by late trade were steady from Tuesday at about 7,000 tonnes.
Marine gas oil prices also rose from Tuesday to hear quotes as high as $290 a tonne, traders said.
Elsewhere in Asia, bunker traders said Tokyo prices were supported by steady demand and tighter supply at west coast ports as refineries cut back on fuel oil output in favour of asphalt production.
The switch reflected a seasonal pattern, said one trader who explained that Japanese refineries tend to squeeze out asphalt, which nets them less profit than fuel oil, as the end of the fiscal year approaches on March 31.
But demand was steady despite the seasonal rise in prices because high freight rates have prompted ship-owners whose vessels are sailing West from Japan to avoid lengthening their journeys with stops for fuel in Singapore.
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