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Singapore fuel oil stocks slump to six-month lows; net imports nearly halve

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters



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Onshore inventories down for fifth consecutive week



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Largest net import volumes hail from Malaysia and Indonesia

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Top exports destination is China amid firm feedstock demand



By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE, May 11 (Reuters) - Weekly residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore fell to six-month lows, with net imports nearly halving from the previous week, official data showed on Thursday. Onshore fuel oil stocks slid for a fifth straight week to 19.19 million barrels (3.02 million tonnes) in the week to May 10, based on Enterprise Singapore data. Weekly net fuel oil imports, which are calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports, fell 49% week-on-week to 278,000 tonnes.


Bunkering demand also improved slightly in May so far versus April, trade sources said this week, leading to lower inventories.


Singapore's largest net fuel oil import volumes came from key blending and ship transfer hub Malaysia at 142,000 tonnes, followed by Indonesia at 80,000 tonnes and Greece at 55,000 tonnes.


Indonesia has been actively offering its residual fuel products via tenders, according to trade sources and shipping records. Meanwhile, the bulk of fuel oil exports out of Singapore ended up in China for the week as feedstock demand remained robust. Net exports to China totalled 106,000 tonnes. China has been ramping up fuel oil imports since the start of this year, with some independent refineries short of crude import quotas. The steady demand, especially for high-sulphur grades, kept refining margins buoyed, with the front-month crack for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil hitting one-year highs recently.


May 10, Fuel oil (in tonnes) Total Imports Total Exports Net Imports
ANGOLA 0 23 -23 BANGLADESH 0 35,885 -35,885 BRAZIL 42,783 0 42,783 CHINA 4 106,063 -106,059 GHANA 0 133 -133 GREECE 54,495 0 54,495 HONG KONG 0 46,327 -46,327 INDIA 0 194 -194 INDONESIA 96,792 16,540 80,252 IRAQ 49,320 0 49,320 JAPAN 16,470 0 16,470 KOREA 1,495 0 1,495 MALAYSIA 195,233 53,092 142,141 MOZAMBIQUE 0 11 -11 NEPAL 0 41 -41 PHILIPPINES 0 13,990 -13,990 RUSSIA 18,958 0 18,958 SIERRA LEONE 0 27 -27 TANZANIA 0 45 -45 THAILAND 15,541 1,699 13,842 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 53,701 0 53,701 UNITED KINGDOM 0 0 0 UNITED STATES 0 0 0 VIETNAM 6,934 0 6,934 TOTAL 551,725 274,068 277,657 (Data from Enterprise Singapore) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)

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