The following article regarding global bunker fuel availability outlooks with special attention to availability in Singapore has been provided by online marine fuels procurement platform ENGINE for publication on Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times:
1 July 2021
Lead times for Singapore’ VLSFO are longer by one day, while Fujairah is seeing better bunker fuel availability. Gibraltar, Rotterdam and Fujairah remain well supplied.
Singapore’s total fuel oil stocks have risen to 50.49 million bbls on the week, on the back of higher imports and lower exports, Enterprise Singapore data showed on Thursday.
Fuel oil stocks rose by 2% to 23.95 million bbls in the bunkering hub, with lead times for VLSFO stems longer by one day to 7-8 days now, despite the weekly stockdbuild.
Lead times for HSFO380 and LSMGO are however steady for another week in the port. LSMGO stems continues to require 4-5 days of lead time, and HSFO380 up to 10 days.
Singapore’s fuel oil imports rose to a three-week high and remaining significantly higher from May’s weekly average for another week. At the same time, the bunkering hub’s fuel oil exports dropped to their lowest levels in three weeks.
The price difference between HSFO380 and VLSFO – the Hi5 spread – has been averaging around $120/mt this week in Singapore, with a lot of market volatility affecting bunker prices.
In Fujairah, bunker fuels are more readily available this week with lead times dropping for all three fuel grades. VLSFO and LSMGO stems now require 3-4 days each down from six days last week, which are now among the shortest across global bunkering hubs. More days are usually recommended for HSFO380 stems to ensure timely delivery.
The UAE bunker hub’s heavy distillate and fuel oil inventories fell by another 8% this week, to stand at 11.86 million bbls- their lowest levels in 11 weeks, data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) and S&P Global Platts showed.
Gibraltar was congested in the beginning of the week with 5 vessels waiting to receive bunkers on Monday, as a supplier’s barges were delayed supplying vessels that were already in the port.
The backlog was quickly cleared without a significant number of vessels waiting to bunker in Gibraltar for the rest of the week. There were no vessels waiting to bunker neither delays in Algeciras and Ceuta either.
Gibraltar and ports in the Mediterranean remain well supplied without any disruptions, with product available for prompt delivery.
VLSFO and LSMGO are widely available in Rotterdam as well, and times for HSFO380 are considerably shorter at around three days in the ARA bunkering hub than the 8-10 days recommended in Singapore and Fujairah. Fujairah and Singapore.
Gibraltar’s bunker prices were more resilient to Brent losses at the beginning of the week, resulting into the VLSFO price spread between Gibraltar and Rotterdam widening by $6/mt to $16/mt on Monday.
Fuel oil stocks have dropped to 12-week lows in the US, recording stockdraws across all regions, data from the EIA showed this week.
HSMajor bunker ports along the US Gulf Coast ports have readily available stems of all grades this week. FO380 remains in tight supply across the US West Coast, including Los Angeles, Long Beach. Suppliers in Vancouver were replenished last week, but availability for prompt dates can still be tight.
The US has produced less fuel oil this week, led by large production drops in the West Coast and the Midwest, at 20,000 b/d and 6,000 b/d respectively, but production has increased in the Gulf Coast by 4,000 b/d.
Photo credit: Shaah Shahidh on Unsplash
Published: 2 July, 2021
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