By Jeslyn Lerh
SINGAPORE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Singapore onshore
inventories of residual fuel oil slipped for a second straight
week on lower imports, while more demand for marine bunkers also
led to a drawdown, data showed on Thursday.
Fuel oil stockpiles fell 6.6% to 21.01 million
barrels (3.31 million metric tons) in the week to Jan. 24,
hitting five-week lows, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
Net imports, which are calculated by subtracting total
exports from total imports, were at 215,000 tons, compared with
more than 1 million tons in the previous week.
The decline in inventories came as refuelling demand at key
bunker hub Singapore strengthened after Red Sea ship diversions,
with shippers and trading firms facing longer waits and higher
prices for low-sulphur fuel deliveries.
On the export front, most outflows from Singapore headed for
China and Australia, while the bulk of Singapore's fuel oil
inflows came from Brazil and Iraq.
However, the East of Suez region remains well-supplied amid
heavy arbitrage and steady regional arrivals this month. Total
January arrivals breached 6 million tons, based on assessments
by LSEG Oil Research this week.
The weekly Singapore stockpile levels also remained higher
versus 2023's average of 20.34 million barrels a week, Reuters
calculations based on Enterprise Singapore data showed.
Jan 17, Fuel oil (in Total Total Net
metric tons) Imports Exports Imports
ALGERIA 10,504 0 10,504
AUSTRALIA 58,006 18,840 39,166
BELGIUM 24,934 0 24,934
CAMBODIA 0 1 -1
CANADA 35,232 0 35,232
CHINA 102,170 67,101 35,069
CONGO 24,012 0 24,012
CONGO, DEM REP OF 22,286 0 22,286
GERMANY 21,970 0 21,970
HONG KONG 0 79,391 -79,391
INDIA 41,956 93 41,863
INDONESIA 61,187 6,702 54,485
IRELAND 33,650 0 33,650
JAPAN 87,446 0 87,446
KAZAKHSTAN 48,649 0 48,649
KOREA, REP OF 21,952 0 21,952
MALAYSIA 618,606 57,888 560,718
NETHERLANDS 47,934 0 47,934
PHILIPPINES 0 56,882 -56,882
RUSSIA 181,147 0 181,147
SRI LANKA 0 7,642 -7,642
TAIWAN 46,994 0 46,994
UNITED STATES 55,799 0 55,799
VIETNAM 0 200 -200
TOTAL 1,544,434 294,741 1,249,693
(Data from Enterprise Singapore)
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)