June 2, 2016 [Reuters] - For the second time in three weeks, onshore stocks of Singapore fuel oil set a record high of 31.18 million barrels STKRS-SIN, data from International Enterprise (IE) Singapore released on Thursday showed.
Fuel oil inventories jumped 7.7 percent in the week to June 1, a rise of about 2.24 million barrels (or about 0.33 million tonnes), the data showed.
In the week to May 18, onshore inventories had leapt 19.4 percent to a record high of 31 million tonnes.
The new highs, however, did not come as a surprise to some industry participants.
“It’s well known that there’s plenty of fuel oil in onshore and floating storage and the current market conditions are forcing suppliers to move their storage from expensive floating to the cheaper onshore option,” said one Singapore-based trader.
Net imports into Singapore over the past week were 36 percent lower from the week before at 0.63 million tonnes. This, along with stock builds at 0.33 million tonnes, indicates Singapore’s fuel oil consumption was about 0.3 million tonnes, much below its weekly average.
The above calculation however does not capture potential fuel oil transfers from floating storage into onshore storage which would increase implied Singapore consumption, industry sources said.
Singapore sales of bunker fuel averaged 3.98 million tonnes per month in the first four months of 2016, or an average 0.995 million tonnes a week, Reuters calculations showed.
Imports
Total imports were 29 percent lower compared to the prior week at 1.29 million tonnes, IE data showed.
Russia, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Brazil were the top net exporters of fuel oil into Singapore, accounting for approximately 145,000 tonnes, 126,000 tonnes, 115,000 tonnes and 114,000 tonnes, respectively.
Singapore’s imports of Iranian fuel oil continued for a second consecutive week, after having imported almost 87,000 tonnes in the week to June 1. Since the start of the year, total Iranian fuel oil imports stand at 775,000 tonnes.
The United Arab Emirates and Thailand were among other significant net exporters during the past week, sending over 94,000 tonnes and 91,000 tonnes of the fuel, respectively.
Exports
Total weekly Singapore fuel oil exports also declined in the week to June 1, falling 20 percent from last week to 0.66 million tonnes, the data showed.
South Korea, Hong Kong, New Caledonia and China were the top export destinations for Singaporean fuel oil, taking in 190,000 tonnes, 75,000 tonnes, 55,000 tonnes and 43,000 tonnes, respectively.
