SINGAPORE: Asia's 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) market firmed on Thursday, as tightening supplies of blendstocks are lowering the availability of finished grade VLSFO fuels, trade sources said. Backwardation in the Dec/Jan VLSFO time spread climbed to $10.25 a tonne, up from $9 a tonne in the previous session and its highest since Feb 2020, Refinitiv data in Eikon showed.
Similarly, the front-month VLSFO crack nudged higher to $14.86 a barrel above Dubai crude, up 3 cents from Wednesday and near a two-year high of $14.90 a barrel touched on Monday, Refinitiv data showed.
This came as Singapore residual fuel oil inventories fell 3% in the week ended Nov. 10, ending five consecutive weeks of stock builds, as weekly net import volumes dropped, official data showed on Thursday.
Onshore fuel oil stocks fell by 570,000 barrels, or about 90,000 tonnes, to a three-week low of 21.75 million barrels, or 3.43 million tonnes, Enterprise Singapore data showed. The residual fuel stocks were 6% lower from year-ago levels, but slightly above the 2021 weekly average of 22.73 million barrels.
Singapore's weekly net import volumes fell to a one-month low of 583,000 tonnes in the week ended Wednesday, down 13% from the previous week. Weekly figures, however, are volatile. By comparison, Singapore fuel oil net imports have averaged 679,000 tonnes a week so far in 2021.
Firm bunkering demand amid shorter waiting times for bunker deliveries may have also contributed to the lower inventories, trade sources said. The largest net imports were from the United Arab Emirates at 147,000 tonnes, followed by Saudi Arabia at 111,000 tonnes, Australia at 103,000 tonnes and Malaysia at 100,000 tonnes.
Singapore fuel oil imports from Australia were at a one-year high, while imports from Saudi Arabia were at their highest in nearly two years as the kingdom's fuel oil consumption continued to drift away from its seasonal summer highs.
The top net export destinations for Singapore fuel oil were the United States at 61,000 tonnes, followed by Bangladesh at 49,000 tonnes and the Philippines at 30,000 tonnes.
Meanwhile, Singapore stockpiles of middle and light distillates slipped for the second straight week to multi-year lows, after exports from China and India fell while the region's fuel demand climbed as pandemic restrictions ease.
Fuel oil flows into East Asia, most of which come to Singapore, were expected between 5.5 million tonnes and 6 million tonnes in November, compared with 6.04 million tonnes in October, according to the latest assessments by Refinitiv Oil Research.
"Feedstock demand in China is expected to ease after the government issued a fresh batch of crude import quotas," Refinitiv Oil Research said.
No VLSFO or high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cargo trades were reported in the Singapore trading window for a third straight session. India's MRPL sold a 40,000 tonne VLSFO cargo loading from New Mangalore over Nov. 23-25 to Shell at an unknown price level. Indonesia's Pertamina sold a 40,000 tonne decant oil cargo loading from Belongan over Nov. 27-29 to Freepoint at an unknown price level.
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