off-the-wire

Asia Fuel Oil-Spot differentials steady after volatile movements

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) - Spot fuel oil cash differentials in Asia steadied on Monday, following a volatile week that saw high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) rallying and very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) weakening sharply. The 180-cst HSFO cash differential dipped 26 cents to $8.74 a tonne to Singapore quotes, while 380-cst HSFO rose 16 cents to $9.00 a tonne on Monday. Refining margins for HSFO retreated, after climbing to nearly a year's high last week. The front-month 380-cst HSFO crack fell to a discount of $14.83 a barrel at the Asia close (0830 GMT).


"We expect the strength in HSFO cracks to persist amid high feedstock demand from China. That said, the upside will be capped by continued inflows of Russian barrels into East of Suez," said consultancy company FGE in a note. Meanwhile, the spot 0.5% VLSFO cash differential held in a thin premium to Singapore quotes on Monday, while the market's front-month crack was at $8.83 a barrel.


OTHER NEWS - Oil prices slipped on Monday after China set a lower-than-expected target for economic growth this year at around 5%, and as investors cautiously awaited U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony this week. - Top crude exporter Saudi Arabia raised prices for the flagship Arab light crude it sells to Asia for a second month in April, Aramco said. - Guyana's coming auction of offshore oil exploration blocks has lured at least 10 companies including Shell, Petrobras and Chevron, to consider the decade's hottest oil region, people close to the matter said. - Philippine authorities believe they have found the location of a tanker that sank off a central province last week, the environment ministry said on Monday, amid a race to assess the extent of an oil spill and contain further environmental damage.


WINDOW TRADES - 180-cst HSFO: Three trades - 380-cst HSFO: One trade - 0.5% VLSFO: No trade


ASSESSMENTS
FUEL OIL
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE CHANGE PREV CLOSE RIC Cargo - 0.5% VLSFO 587.84 9.80 578.04 Diff - 0.5% VLSFO 1.34 1.34 0.00 Cargo - 180cst 462.04 -6.26 468.30 Diff - 180cst 8.74 -0.26 9.00 Cargo - 380cst 447.63 2.33 445.30 Diff - 380cst 9.00 0.16 8.84 Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 380cst 11.50 -0.50 12.00
Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 0.5% VLSFO 8.00 0.00 8.00
For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below. Brent M1 180cst M1 180cst M1/M2 180cst M2 Visco M1 Visco M2 380cst M1 380cst M1/M2 380cst M2 Cracks 180-Dubai M1 Cracks 180-Dubai M2 East-West M1 East-West M2 Barges M1 Barges M1/M2 Barges M2 Crack Barges-Brent M1 Crack Barges-Brent M2 (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.