Singapore fuel oil stocks slump to six-month lows; net imports nearly halve

By Jeslyn Lerh

SINGAPORE, May 11 (Reuters) - Weekly residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore fell to six-month lows, with imports halving from the previous week, official data showed on Thursday.

Onshore fuel oil stocks STKRS-SIN slid for a fifth straight week to 19.19 million barrels (3.02 million tonnes) in the week to May 10, based on Enterprise Singapore data. O/SING1

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

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

Singapore's largest fuel oil import volumes came from key blending and ship transfer hub Malaysia at 142,000 tonnes, followed by Indonesia at 80,000 tonnes and Greece at 55,000 tonnes.

Indonesia has been actively offering its residual fuel products via tenders, according to trade sources and shipping records.

Meanwhile, the bulk of fuel oil exports out of Singapore ended up in China for the week as feedstock demand remained robust. Net exports to China totalled 106,000 tonnes.

China has been ramping up fuel oil imports since the start of this year, with some independent refineries short of crude import quotas.

The steady demand, especially for high-sulphur grades, kept refining margins buoyed, with the front-month crack for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil hitting one-year highs recently.

(Data from Enterprise Singapore)

(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)

((Jeslyn.Lerh@thomsonreuters.com))