Onshore fuel oil volumes stored at key trading hub Singapore recovered this week after sliding to about six-year lows last week, official data showed on Thursday.

The stockpiles rebounded 7.9% to 16.76 million barrels (about 2.64 million metric tons) in the week to Oct. 2, based on data from Enterprise Singapore.

Inventories sank to their lowest in nearly six years in the previous week amid a backdrop of tight supply and steady bunker drawdowns.

Despite the weekly rebound, the levels continued to average lower for three consecutive months.

While spot premiums for fuel oil have eased for loadings into second-half October, bunker premiums for prompt delivery dates remained firm and particularly for the high-sulphur grade.

Delivered bunker premiums for 380-cst high-sulphur marine fuel surged at Singapore this week, with prompt cargo availability still tight, market sources said.

Meanwhile, fuel oil imports going into onshore tanks fell 6% week-on-week to about 868,000 tons, based on the Enterprise Singapore data.

Top cargo origins for the week were Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, excluding cargo movements from storage hub Malaysia.

On the exports front, outflows totalled about 401,000 tons, more than doubling from the previous week, with most of the cargoes heading to China.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)