Asia Fuel Oil-Visco spread narrows; market eyes South Asia tenders

Asia’s viscosity spread for cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) narrowed further on Tuesday, while the market eyed several South Asia tenders offering HSFO for spot loading.

A couple of Indian refiners have offered 180-cst HSFO via tenders that close on Tuesday, industry sources said.

India’s HPCL offered 20,000 metric tons of the product for loading between June 20 and 27, while BPCL offered 30,000 tons for loading between July 5 and 7.

Pakistan’s PARCO is also offering 180-cst HSFO via a tender that closes on June 25, with the loading laycan to be finalised later.

The viscosity spread, which is the price difference between 180-cst HSFO and 380-cst HSFO, narrowed below $1.50 a ton on Tuesday, latest data showed.

The 380-cst market retained its strength, with cash premiums and margins holding stable from last week’s levels.

Front-month cracks for 380-cst HSFO inched up to discounts of about $6 a barrel on Tuesday, while low-sulphur (VLSFO) cracks also closed higher at about $9.75 a barrel.

Meanwhile, intermonth timespreads for fuel oil widened in backwardation for the prompt months for all key grades.

BUNKER SALES

– Singapore bunker sales rebounded to 4.83 million tons in May after logging monthly declines for four consecutive months, with container throughput and vessel calls firming from April, official data showed.

– Fujairah bunker sales fell to a six-month low at about 610,000 metric tons in May, as tighter inventories capped uptake while lower prices at neighbouring port Khor Fakkan also drew some demand away, trade sources said.

OTHER NEWS

– Oil prices were largely stable on Tuesday as traders awaited signs of a hoped-for summer demand boost to prop up prices even as strong supply threatens to blunt gains.

– Denmark is considering ways to stop a so-called shadow fleet of tankers from carrying Russian oil through the Baltic Sea, the Nordic country said, triggering a sharp response from Moscow’s diplomats who said any such move would be unacceptable.

– Shell has agreed to buy Singaporean liquefied natural gas company Pavilion Energy from global investment company Temasek in a move the oil major said will strengthen its leadership position in LNG, according to statements on Tuesday

– Japan’s top oil refiner Eneos Holdings and trading house Mitsubishi Corp said on Tuesday they will explore expanding their alliance to include hydrogen and decarbonised fuels, in addition to sustainable aviation fuel.

WINDOW TRADES

– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)