ENGINE: East of Suez Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook

Fujairah bunkering resumes after tropical storm disruptions, and HSFO380 supply has tightened in Singapore this week.

Lead times for VLSFO remain unchanged in Singapore on the week, while HSFO380 now requires up to 10 days of lead time, up from eight days last week.

LSMGO is more readily available in the bunkering hub at four days.

Singapore’s residual fuel oil stocks dropped by close to 3 million bbls last week, to their lowest levels since September 2019, according to Enterprise Singapore data. Inventories fell to a low of 18.73 million bbls on 29 September.

Singapore’s fuel oil imports grew by 5.49 million bbls over the same period, after slumping to their lowest levels since January 2020 last week. Exports inched up by 48,000 bbls on the week.

The Port of Fujairah is experiencing severe bunker backlogs after tropical storm Shaheen lashed the area with winds of 60-70km/h on Sunday.

Cargo operations and bunker deliveries started resuming on Monday afternoon, and the majority of bunker suppliers had resumed deliveries by Tuesday. But their earliest delivery dates have been pushed back to 12-13 October as they try to clear the congestion.

HSFO380 continues to be particularly tight in Fujairah, with lead times standing at 12 days, which is two days more than Singapore’s lead time for the high sulphur fuel oil, and among the longest across East of Suez ports.

Fujairah’s fuel oil stocks dropped by 4% to 6.72 million bbls in the week to 27 September, hitting their lowest levels since December 2018, according to figures from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) and S&P Global Platts.

HSFO380 remains tight in South Korean ports, too, as one of the two suppliers offering the grade has sold out of the product. There are no immediate prospects for HSFO imports to arrive in the country. Suppliers in South Korea can typically only accommodate smaller HSFO380 stems amid limited supplies.

At the same time, South Korean lead times for VLSFO have come down to three days now, compared to seven days two weeks ago. LSMGO is also readily available in the country’s main hubs.

The same availability situation has been observed in Zhoushan recently, where HSFO380 has been tight for most of the past month, while low sulphur fuels are more readily available with 2-3 days of lead time advised.

The nearby Port of Shanghai has good availability of all three fuel grades and could be a good alternative bunkering option.

Tokyo Bay’s bunker market is well supplied across fuel grades, but with lead times standing at eight days ahead. At the same time barges remain tight in several western Japanese ports – from Osaka to the Kyushu area.
Source: ENGINE (https://engine.online/)