Bunker fuels are still tight in several East of Suez ports, and lead times for HSFO380 are longer in Singapore and Fujairah this week.
Lead times for VLSFO stems are one day shorter than last week in Singapore, where nine days are now required for stems of the most popular fuel grade. HSFO380 stems are still tight in the bunkering hub with 12-15 days needed ahead. Lead times for LSMGO stems are shorter at 4-6 days.
Singapore’s fuel oil inventories rose by 5% on the week to 20.39 bbls, according to Enterprise Singapore data published on 24 February. Despite a stockbuild of more than 1 million bbls on the week, there is less fuel oil in storage now than in January, when inventories averaged 21.90 million bbls.
The port’s middle distillate stocks have been growing slowly since late January, rising by 1% on the week to 15.52 million bbls, which is the highest they have been since early December last year.
Fujairah’s lead times for VLSFO and LSMGO are unchanged at six days. The UAE port’s fuel oil stocks are now at their highest levels in five weeks, but HSFO380 has gotten tighter and lead times have gone up by two days to 12 days now.
Zhoushan’s bunker market has tightened this week, after seeing two weeks of shortening lead times and improved fuel availability. Lead times for all fuel grades have now gone up to six days, which is 2-3 days more than last week. The nearby Chinese port of Shanghai, on the other hand, is seeing better fuel availability with three days required for bunker stems.
VLSFO and LSMGO are more available in South Korea’s Busan this week, with the earliest delivery date now three days ahead in southern ports, which is one day less than last week. HSFO380 stems continue to be tight in the country’s ports amid limited supply volumes.
Rough weather has been disrupting bunkering operations in Tokyo Bay and delayed delivery schedules. Wind gusts are expected to reach 35 knots on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Japanese port. VLSFO and LSMGO remain tight in Tokyo Bay, with lead times for the low sulphur fuels stretching up to nine days now.
Japan’s fuel oil stocks rose by 2% on the week to stand at 11.54 million bbls, data from Petroleum Association of Japan showed on 24 February. Japan did not import any fuel oil on the week to 20 February, while the country’s fuel oil exports dropped by 23% to a multi-month low of 570,000 bbls.
Refinery delays and bad weather continues to hamper bunker deliveries in Russia’s Far East ports. Deliveries are expected to resume from 5 March.
Source: ENGINE ( (https://engine.online/)