- Heavy distillate stocks jump from a five-month low
- Non-fuel oil exports to Singapore hold above 5 million barrels
- Some bunker orders canceled
Stockpiles of oil products at the UAE’s Port of Fujairah fell 1.2% in the week ended Jan. 15, the second consecutive weekly decline, according to data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, reports SP Global.
Canceled orders
Some shipowners canceled bunker orders as they diverted voyages from the Red Sea, traders said. That may have led to the increase in heavy distillate stockpiles, with demand for low sulfur fuel oil weaker than for high sulfur fuel oil, they said.
“HSFO cargo availabilities are doing okay, with prompt cargo availabilities there in the market,” a Fujairah-based trader said on Jan. 17.
“HSFO levels seem more supported [these days] as availabilities of non-sanction barrels lessened, though there’s still plenty of Russian origins and blended cargoes sold at lower levels,” a second Fujairah-based trader said, adding that stockpiles were still ample.
The Platts-assessed Fujairah-delivered 380 CST HSFO bunker premium over the fuel oil 380 CST 3.5% FOB Arab Gulf cargo rose to an average of $5.77/mt across Jan. 2-16 from $3.09/mt for all of December, according to data by S&P Global.
While new supplies have been slow to come due to a lack of barrels from Kuwait Petroleum, buoying LSFO prices, an incoming shipment from Kuwait is possibly landing between late January and early February, traders said.
“Still not much LSFO demand is [being] seen, probably due to Red Sea disruptions,” a Fujairah-based bunker supplier said. “Demand has been slow these past few days. Around two to three suppliers still have prompt availabilities [on offer], while some others are already very committed [through further refueling dates],” a trader said.
The Platts-assessed Fujairah-delivered marine fuel 0.5% bunker premium over the benchmark FOB Singapore marine fuel 0.5% cargo values averaged $25.55/mt Jan. 2-16, down from $28.31/mt in December, according to S&P Global data.
Exports of products except for fuel oil dropped to 5.25 million barrels in the week started Jan. 8, from 5.5 million barrels a week earlier, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data. Preliminary data showed that some 2.6 million barrels were headed for Singapore, the most since March 2023. Most of the cargo was clean products, along with naphtha. Fuel oil exports came to 771,000 barrels for the week, up from 624,000 barrels a week earlier, the data showed. The supplies were destined for Singapore and Pakistan.
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Source: SP Global
