Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore extended higher to 14-week highs as weekly exports crunched sharply, official data showed on Thursday.
Onshore fuel oil stocks climbed 10%to 22.92 million barrels (3.61 million metric tons) in the week to August 3, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Weekly fuel oil exports out of Singapore crunched by nearly 74% as China’s spree for HSFO appears to have eased amid a sharp rally in high-sulphur fuel oil prices, trade sources said.

Singapore’s weekly inventory level has also steadied, after slumping to its second-lowest level for 2023 just two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, weekly net imports, calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports, fell 32% week-on-week at 588,000 metric tons.

Malaysia was the top origin of Singapore’s fuel oil imports, with net import volumes at 213,000 metric tons, followed by Brazil at 196,000 metric tons and the United Arab Emirates at 80,000 metric tons.

Middle East exports to Asia have hit a five-month high of 2.13 million metric tons for July, said Refinitiv Oil Research this week, adding that the attractive high-sulfur market is proving a draw for the Middle East barrels.

Separately, Philippines was the top destination for fuel oil exports out of Singapore, with net export volumes of 39,000 metric tons.

Aug 3, Fuel oil (in tons)	Total Imports	Total Exports	Net Imports
BRAZIL	123,182	0	123,182
CHINA	19,676	24	19,652
INDIA	0	93	-93
INDONESIA	53,548	3	53,545
JAPAN	42,979	0	42,979
MALAYSIA	230,444	17,316	213,127
MICRONESIA	0	17	-17
NEW CALEDONIA	0	8,099	-8,099
PHILIPPINES	0	38,544	-38,544
RUSSIA	65,362	0	65,362
SUDAN	29,971	0	29,971
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	79,814	0	79,814
UNITED STATES	0	0	0
VIET NAM	6,992	0	6,992
TOTAL	651,969	64,096	587,872

(Data from Enterprise Singapore)

Source: Reuters reported by Jeslyn Lerh and edited by Sonia Cheema