By Cassandra Yap
SINGAPORE, May 23 (Reuters) - Singapore's onshore fuel oil
stockpiles plunged to a 5-1/2 year low in the week ended May 22,
despite a rebound in net imports, data showed on Thursday.
Inventories for fuel oil lost 17.46% weekly to log
15.778 million barrels (2.48 million metric tons), the lowest since
the week ended Nov 7, 2018, Enterprise Singapore data showed. The
week ended May 22 also marked its steepest decline since the week
ended July 25, 2018, which saw a 17.47% week-on-week decrease.
Net imports, calculated by subtracting total exports from total
imports, rose 568,326 tons, or 186.1% week-on-week to stand at a
two-week high of 873,675 tons.
Total imports more than doubled to about 1,091,367 tons. Top
importers for the week were Brazil, the Netherlands and Kuwait. The
week also saw cargoes originating from Italy, Romania, Turkmenistan
and Sweden for the first time in 2024.
Total exports dipped 7.4%, with most of the cargoes ending up in
Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
The cash differential for 380-cst high sulfur fuel oil
has embarked on an upward trend since May 20, while
the premium for 0.5% low sulfur fuel oil rose above
$7 a ton.
Week to May 22, Fuel oil (in Total Total Net Imports
metric tons) Imports Exports
AZERBAIJAN 6,080 0 6,080
BANGLADESH 0 15,048 -15,048
BRAZIL 182,384 0 182,384
BULGARIA 4,839 0 4,839
CHINA 3,523 0 3,523
CONGO 74,327 0 74,327
ESTONIA 48,390 0 48,390
INDIA 77,427 350 77,077
INDONESIA 97,920 0 97,920
ITALY 14,164 0 14,164
KOREA, REP OF 1 0 1
KUWAIT 141,918 0 141,918
MALAYSIA 18,599 170,162 -151,563
NETHERLANDS 145,818 0 145,818
NEW CALEDONIA 0 5,599 -5,599
OMAN 79,243 0 79,243
ROMANIA 13,965 0 13,965
SRI LANKA 0 26,533 -26,533
SWEDEN 26,983 0 26,983
THAILAND 47,089 0 47,089
TURKMENISTAN 38,985 0 38,985
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 57,877 0 57,877
VIETNAM 11,835 0 11,835
TOTAL 1,091,367 217,692 873,675
(Data from Enterprise Singapore)
(Reporting by Cassandra Yap; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)