Spot benchmarks for fuel oil ended the week on a steady to softer note, while bids and offers were mostly rangebound from the previous session.
Singapore cash differential for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) was pegged at a premium of $2 a metric ton to cargo quotes on Friday, little changed from Thursday. (MFO05-SIN-DIF)
Meanwhile, spot deals softened for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), with the product trading lower at a premium of $6.50 a metric ton to cargo quotes. (FO380-SIN-DIF)
However, the HSFO market structure retained support, with intermonth backwardation widening at the prompt months amid active buying interest for cracks, a derivatives trader said.
Singapore 380-cst HSFO cracks (FO380DUBCKMc1) closed at discounts of about $5.65 per barrel, while VLSFO cracks (LFO05SGDUBCMc1) held at premiums above $10 per barrel, according to LSEG data.
In tenders, wider discussions remained largely thin. Taiwan’s CPC offered 22,000 tons of catalyst fractionator bottom for loading in January. The tender closes on Jan. 3 with validity until Jan. 7, a document on its website showed.
INVENTORIES
– Fuel oil inventories in the ARA (STK-FO-ARA) inched 0.5% up at 1.48 million tons in the week to Jan. 2, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
OTHER NEWS
– Oil prices were little changed on Friday after closing at their highest in more than two months in the prior session, amid hopes that governments around the world may increase policy support to revive economic growth.
– Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may raise crude prices for Asian buyers in February for the first time in three months, tracking gains in Middle East benchmark prices last month, traders said.
– Indonesian companies will get a 1-1/2 month transition period to meet the new B40 biodiesel requirement, Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Yuliot Tanjung told reporters.
– U.S. LNG exports reached near record levels in December, rising to 8.5 million metric tonnes as two new plants started, and driving up full-year shipments 4.5% over 2023, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG.
WINDOW TRADES
– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: Two trades
– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
Source: Reuters