off-the-wire

Singapore fuel oil stocks jump to five-month highs

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters



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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)

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