SINGAPORE: Asia’s spot cash premium for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) climbed on Tuesday amid firmer bidding and lower arbitrage supplies from the West, while high sulphur fuel oil was range-bound on thin activity.
The 0.5% VLSFO premium rose to $9.25 a tonne to Singapore quotes, while the front-month margin firmed to a premium of $9.31 a barrel at 0830 GMT.
Western arbitrage supplies to Asia were at 3.4 million tonnes in May so far, easing from 3.8 million tonnes in April, Refinitiv ship-tracking data showed.
Meanwhile, spot high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market continued to hold steady. Cash premium for 380-cst HSFO closed at $5.35 a tonne on Tuesday, while front-month margin eased at a discount of $8.29 a barrel.
In tenders, Saudi Aramco offered three 550,000-barrel cargoes of straight-run fuel oil for loading in June from Ras Tanura. The tender closes on Tuesday.
Bunker sales recovered in April at the UAE’s Fujairah after hitting record lows in March, latest Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data showed.
Total bunker volumes, excluding lubricants, rose to 596,330 cubic metres (about 591,000 tonnes) in April, based on data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone published by industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Bunker sales in April rebounded by 6.5% month-on-month, though compared lower by 10.3% from the same month last year.
Overall demand for bunkers at Fujairah had been lukewarm in May so far, Dubai-based trade sources said. Fujairah prices for delivered 0.5% marine fuel have dropped in May to single-digit premiums versus benchmark Singapore cargo quotes.
Oil futures traded sideways on Tuesday, after mostly weaker-than-expected data from China muddied the outlook for demand from the world’s top crude importer while US plans to refill its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) underpinned prices.
Chinese oil refinery throughput was up 18.9% in April compared with the year previously, data showed on Tuesday, as refiners maintained high runs to cater to recovering domestic fuel demand and stock inventories ahead of the summer travel season.
State oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Co said on Tuesday it has set a price range for an initial public offering of its marine & logistics unit that could raise up to $607 million and could give ADNOC Logistics & Services an equity valuation of as much as $4.05 billion.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, has launched new price assessments for tanker base freight rates that factor in pricing for alternative fuels, the agency said on Tuesday.
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