off-the-wire

Singapore fuel oil stocks slip to four-week lows; net imports ease 19%

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters



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Inventories slide for third straight week



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Thailand displaces China as top net export destination



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Fuel oil premiums recover in April but capped in single digits



By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore fell to four-week lows, with net imports easing by 19% after jumping last week, official data showed on Thursday.


Onshore fuel oil stocks were down at 23.06 million barrels (3.63 million tonnes) in the week to April 26, sliding 2% from the previous week, based on Enterprise Singapore data. Weekly net fuel oil imports, which are calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports, slipped 19% to 702,000 tonnes, after more than doubling in the previous week.


The highest net import volumes came from key blending and ship transfer hub Malaysia at 223,000 tonnes, followed by Kuwait at 107,000 tonnes and Turkey at 83,000 tonnes.


Meanwhile, Thailand displaced China as the top destination for Singapore's net fuel oil exports, with volumes at 103,000 tonnes, followed by Bangladesh at 15,000 tonnes and Vietnam at 11,000 tonnes.


Cash premiums for the benchmark 0.5% low-sulphur fuel oil grade in Asia posted weekly gains of more than 10% as of this week, though heavy supply arrivals into Asia capped gains. The 0.5% VLSFO premium closed at $4.22 a tonne over Singapore quotes on Wednesday, staying trapped in single-digit premiums in April so far, pricing data showed.

Apr 26, Fuel oil (in tonnes) Total Imports Total Exports Net Imports
ARGENTINA 36,042 0 36,042 AUSTRALIA 6,404 0 6,404 BANGLADESH 0 15,003 -15,003 BRAZIL 46,768 0 46,768 BRUNEI 0 1 -1 CHINA 4 0 4 GUINEA 0 32 -32 INDIA 3 0 3 INDONESIA 40,311 0 40,311 JAPAN 37,665 0 37,665 KAZAKHSTAN 57,219 0 57,219 KUWAIT 106,769 0 106,769 MALAYSIA 382,929 159,736 223,193 NEPAL 0 148 -148 NEW CALEDONIA 0 1,594 -1,594 RUSSIA 46,225 0 46,225 TAIWAN 21,980 0 21,980 THAILAND 0 103,238 -103,238 TURKEY 82,579 0 82,579 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 72,144 0 72,144 UNITED STATES 55,702 0 55,702 VIETNAM 0 10,950 -10,950 TOTAL 992,742 290,702 702,040 (Data from Enterprise Singapore) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh;Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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