Most bunker prices have slipped across East of Suez ports over the weekend, tracking lower Brent values.
Changes on the day from Friday, to 16.00 SGT (08.00 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices steady in Singapore, and down in Zhoushan ($12/mt) and Fujairah ($9/mt)
- LSMGO prices down in Zhoushan ($7/mt), Singapore ($5/mt) and Fujairah ($3/mt)
- HSFO380 prices down in Singapore ($9/mt), Zhoushan and Fujairah ($8/mt)
Most of Zhoushan’s supply backlog was cleared over the weekend, after the Chinese port had suspended bunker operations for five days because of Typhoon Chanthu.
Lead times for low sulphur fuel grades have dropped again to 2-3 days in the port, while HSFO380 supply remains tight with most suppliers.
Singapore’s VLSFO price has been more resilient to Brent dropping over the weekend, due to a higher-priced stem for 50-150 mt. At the same time, Fujairah and Zhoushan have seen their VLSFO prices recording considerable losses, flipping their prices to $8-9/mt discounts to Singapore.
Lead times remain steady for bunker fuel oils in Singapore, with 7-8 days recommended for VLSFO and HSFO380 supply. LSMGO continues to be more readily available at 4-5 days ahead.
The bunkering hub’s residual fuel oil stocks dropped by 2.85 million bbls on the week to 15 September, coming down from seven-week highs, Enterprise Singapore data showed last week.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent has dipped $0.71/bbl lower on the day from Friday, to $74.54/bbl at 16.00 SGT (08.00 GMT) today.
Brent has extended its losses from the previous session and dropped below the $75/bbl mark again. Recovering US crude production has eased some of the upward pressure on the futures contract.
About 23% of production from rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico is still offline, but this is down from around 96% when Hurricane Ida struck three weeks ago, figures from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement showed Friday.
Brent rose to seven-week highs last week, after Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed a bigger-than-expected draw of US crude stockpiles. After two weeks of crippled US crude production, the country’s commercial stockpiles have been drawn down to two-year lows.
A stronger US dollar has weighed on Brent and other dollar-denominated commodities.
“Strength in the USD over the last couple of days has provided some headwinds to the market,” said ING strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao.