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Weekly net fuel oil imports at Singapore surge by 25%
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Imports from Kuwait climb for third straight week
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Western arbitrage volumes to Asia hit 48-month high -Refinitiv
By Jeslyn Lerh
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading
hub Singapore rose to five-month highs after weekly net fuel oil imports jumped,
led by strong arrivals from Kuwait and Brazil, official data showed on Thursday.
Onshore fuel oil stocks rose 9% to 23.05 million barrels (3.63 million
tonnes) in the week ended March 22, Enterprise Singapore data showed. Net fuel oil imports rose by 25% to 810,000 tonnes in the same week, with
the biggest net import volumes hailing from key blending hub Malaysia at 329,000
tonnes.
This was followed by Kuwait at nearly 197,000 tonnes and Brazil at 115,000
tonnes, the data showed.
Singapore is expected to remain a popular destination for Kuwait's Al Zour
fuel oil exports, trade sources said. The Al Zour refinery has been steadily
offering supplies via spot tenders as it ramps up operations. Arbitrage supplies from the West to the East also retained strength, with
March volumes to wider Asia exceeding 3.5 million tonnes, assessments by
Refinitiv Oil Research showed this week, hitting a 48-month high.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh was among the top destinations for Singapore's net
fuel oil exports at nearly 57,000 tonnes, as the South Asian country ramped up
purchases ahead of firmer power generation demand in summer.
Other top destinations were China at nearly 35,000 tonnes and New Caledonia
at over 7,500 tonnes in the same week, the data showed.
Mar 22, Fuel oil (in tonnes) Total Imports Total Exports Net Imports
ALGERIA 41,940 0 41,940
BANGLADESH 0 56,960 -56,960
BRAZIL 114,888 0 114,888
CHINA 0 34,813 -34,813
FRANCE 62,657 0 62,657
GREECE 19,857 0 19,857
INDIA 16,392 258 16,134
INDONESIA 14,780 8 14,772
JAPAN 24,623 0 24,623
KUWAIT 196,738 0 196,738
MALAYSIA 409,466 80,601 328,865
NEPAL 0 187 -187
NEW CALEDONIA 0 7,574 -7,574
SAUDI ARABIA 45,442 0 45,442
UNITED STATES 41,610 0 41,610
VIETNAM 17,033 15,049 1,984
TOTAL 1,005,427 195,450 809,977
(Data from Enterprise Singapore) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)