Asia’s fuel oil market was little changed on Thursday, while residual fuel oil stocks at Singapore slid for a fifth consecutive week to six-month lows, with net imports nearly halving from the previous week.

Bunkering demand at Singapore had also improved slightly in May so far versus April, trade sources said this week, leading to lower inventories.

The cash premium for 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (MFO05-SIN-DIF) rose to $7.40 a tonne, while front-month margin (LFO05SGDUBCMc1) eased to a premium of $7.66 a barrel at 0830 GMT.

Meanwhile, cash premium for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (FO380-SIN-DIF) dipped to $5.43 a tonne, while front-month margin (FO380DUBCKMc1) fell to a discount of $8.70 a barrel.

In China, the second batch of export quota volumes for refined oil products declined, consultancies and trade sources said on Thursday.

Low-sulphur fuel export quotas for the second batch were at 3 million tonnes, down from 8 million tonnes for the first batch this year.

However, a trader from a state-owned Chinese oil company said the previous batch of low-sulphur fuel quotas were yet to be used up as marine bunkering demand was weak in the first quarter.

SINGAPORE INVENTORIES

Onshore fuel oil stocks (STKRS-SIN) slid 7% to 19.19 million barrels (3.02 million tonnes) in the week to May 10, based on Enterprise Singapore data.

Weekly net fuel oil imports, which are calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports, fell 49% week-on-week to 278,000 tonnes.

OTHER NEWS

– Oil prices bounced back on Thursday after dropping by more than a dollar a barrel the previous day, supported by stronger fuel demand data from the United States, the world’s top oil consumer.

– India has set a deadline of 2035 to establish green hydrogen bunkering and refuelling facilities at major ports in the drive to cut its carbon footprint, the shipping ministry said in guidelines issued.

– A Russian court on the Pacific island of Sakhalin has ordered the seizure of four tugboats belonging to Denmark’s Svitzer operator at the request of a Russian energy company.

– Share prices of COSCO Shipping Ports Ltd rose to as much as a three-month high on Thursday, after the German government cleared it to buy part of a Hamburg port-based container terminal, amid a political row over Chinese investment.

WINDOW TRADES

– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: One trade

Source: Reuters