Business

ENGINE: East of Suez Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook

Record wide Singapore Hi5 spread amid tight VLSFO; weather disruptions in Chinese ports; supply to improve with refinery back online in Fujairah.

Published

4 years ago

July 6, 2022

Admin

The following article regarding regional bunker fuel availability outlook for the East of Suez region has been provided by online marine fuels procurement platform ENGINE for publication on Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times:

5 July 2022

Record wide Singapore Hi5 spread amid tight VLSFO
Weather disruptions in Chinese ports
Supply to improve with refinery back online in Fujairah

Singapore

VLSFO supply has been acutely tight for weeks in Singapore’s bunker market, with high price premiums quoted for prompt delivery dates. Prompt stems have typically been priced $30-50/mt higher than for dates further out, sources say.

Tight VLSFO supply has contributed to widen Singapore’s Hi5 spread to all-time highs of more than $570/mt this week.

Suppliers’ earliest delivery dates vary from 14-17 days out for VLSFO, while their earliest dates for HSFO are slightly shorter at 10-13 days, and much shorter for LSMGO at 5-7 days.

Sources in Singapore’s bunker market point to a lack of incoming VLSFO cargo flows as a reason for the grade being tight. VLSFO supply is set to remain tight through July, one says. Fuel oil inflows in July will “at best” be similar to June, and once it has arrived in Singapore, much of this product will still need to be blended into VLSFO, so any supply relief will not be imminent.

East Asia

Suppliers in Hong Kong have been working to clear a bunker backlog this week, while suppliers in Zhoushan face around three days of weather disruptions.

Typhoon Chaba swept across Hong Kong with strong winds and rains on Friday, before making landfall in south China. Bunkering was suspended in several ports in the region, including Hong Kong and Guangzhou, but had resumed by Monday.

Massive delays are expected to put pressure on bunker supply capacity in Hong Kong until at least Wednesday, a source said. VLSFO and LSMGO supply had improved in Hong Kong with replenishment cargoes arriving last week, but prompt availability has tightened somewhat as suppliers work through backlogs.

There are no significant backlogs in Guangzhou, but a supplier is running low on VLSFO and only expects to the resupplied in mid-July, keeping availability tight, a source said.

Suppliers in Zhoushan have been bracing for gale and bunker disruptions from Tuesday until Thursday evening. A lull with less wind on Thursday morning could provide a relief and allow for more bunkering.

VLSFO is tight in Zhoushan and recommended lead times can vary greatly between suppliers, ranging from 7-12 days.

Prompt supply is tight across grades in South Korea, but lead times for fuel oil grades are shorter than in Singapore and Zhoushan. Recommended lead times are around 5-6 days for all grades in both western ports like Incheon and southern ports like Busan.

Middle East

Recommended lead times have grown longer in Fujairah this week. Around 10 days is now advised for VLSFO and LSMGO, and eight days for HSFO. Maintenance work at a local refinery has capped production and limited some volumes from streaming to the bunker market recently. Availability could improve as the refinery has come back online and ramps up production.

The port’s heavy distillate and residual fuel oil stocks rose 8% and to multi-week highs last week, but still averaged lower across June than in May, according to Fujairah Oil Industry Zone and S&P Global data.

Photo credit and source: ENGINE
Published: 6 July, 2022

Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

Published

16 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July).

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions.

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Published

16 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Published

17 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post.

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024.

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026