For a second time this week, the 380cst April and May contracts in the Platts window flipped into a narrow contango of 25 cents a tonne below Singapore quotes, compared with a premium of 5 cents a tonne the day before, industry sources said.
In cash deals, one trade was reported with BP selling 20,000 tonnes of 380cst to Vitol at a discount of 50 cents a tonne to Singapore quotes for April 28 to May 2 delivery, sources said.
On Thursday, two 380cst fuel oil cash deals were closed at a zero discount to Singapore quotes with one for delivery between April 26 and 30, while the other was due between May 3 and 7, sources said.
380cst cash differentials ended the week near flat at a discount of 2 cents a tonne to Singapore quotes, from Thursday's premium of 21 cents a tonne but stronger than last week's discount of 86 cents a tonne.
ARA WEEKLY STOCKS:
Total product stocks held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub rose to a fresh all-time high, led by a large build in fuel oil stocks, Dutch consultancy PJK International said on Thursday.
Fuel oil inventories in the hub rose to 1.376 million tonnes in the week to April 7, up 292,000 tonnes from the previous week, PJK data showed.
One VLCC was expected to arrive at the ARA hub on April 8 and head to Singapore on April 11 with an outbound cargo of fuel oil, PJK said.