The market for high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) steadied on Wednesday, having softened in recent sessions, while landed stocks at the Fujairah trading hub fell to 34-week lows.
The cash differential for 180-cst HSFO rebounded after slumping to eight-month lows this week, rising to a discount of $3.58 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Wednesday, while 380-cst HSFO rose slightly to a premium of 25 cents a tonne.
Meanwhile, premiums for 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) held in a tight range of $20 to $25 a tonne in recent sessions, with recent trades and spot demand having kept the market supported.
Kuwait’s Al Zour this week sold another 120,000 tonne 0.5% VLSFO cargo for loading Feb. 24-25 via tender, trade sources said. The cargo was awarded to Japanese trading house Marubeni and sold between parity and a slight premium to 0.5% VLSFO Singapore quotes, the sources added.
FUJAIRAH INVENTORIES
Residual fuel oil stocks at Fujairah slipped 12% to 8.53 million barrels (1.34 million tonnes) in the week ended Feb. 6, according to Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
OTHER NEWS
WINDOW TRADES
– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: One trade
Source: Reuters