Asia’s very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) markets remained steady on Tuesday for a second straight day amid muted trading activity at the Singapore window and lingering concerns around a rise in supplies.

The cash premium for 0.5% VLSFO slipped to $7.03 a tonne over Singapore quotes from $7.06 a day earlier.

In physical markets, there were a bunch of offers for both very-low sulphur and high sulphur fuel oil against no bidders, resulting in no trade for a fortnight.

The high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market was also little changed. The 380-cst HSFO premium closed at $4.50 a tonne over Singapore quotes.

WINDOW TRADES

– 180-cst HSFO: No trade

– 380-cst HSFO: No trade

– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade

NEWS

– Leading crude exporter Saudi Arabia is maximising refining profits by importing unprecedented amounts of cheap Russian diesel and in turn shipping record volumes to Singapore, where the fuel can achieve higher margins, shiptracking data showed.

– Oil fell by nearly 2% as concerns about the U.S. debt ceiling pact cooled the market’s risk-on sentiment and mixed messages from major producers clouded the supply outlook ahead of their meeting this weekend.

– India will look at building smaller oil refineries because of problems in acquiring land as it aims to raise its annual refining capacity to 9 million barrels per day (bpd), oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

Source: Reuters