Spot ex-wharf price differentials of Asia’s 380-cst fuel oil came off the 11-week high seen last Friday but were still at a premium to

Singapore quotes, while cargo cash differentials of the benchmark 180-cst and the 380-cst fuel oil slipped on Monday as buying interest waned.

Spot ex-wharf premiums fell to $1.20 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Monday, down by $1.30 from its previous close.

In the Platts window, buying interest for 380-cst was weaker as the number of offers outnumbered bids for physical cargoes by a little over 3 to 1 resulting in only one deal being reported for the 380-cst fuel, industry sources said.

“It’s not surprise ex-wharf came down today since selling into that market fetches a greater premium than the cargo market which is at a discount now,” said one Singapore-based trader.

“But it is odd that there were so many offers in the window, when supplies in July were considered to be a lot tighter. Maybe suppliers are looking for outlets,” the trader said.

“People are getting anxious waiting for that ‘tightness’ to materialize,” said another Singapore-based trader.

No deals for the 180-cst fuel oil exchanged hands in the Platts window on Monday with only one bid and one offer made, both by Vitol, sources said.

Cash discounts for 380-cst FO380-SIN-DIF widened by 8 cents to $1.60 a tonne to Singapore quotes, while cash premiums for 180-cst fuel FO180-SIN-DIF narrowed by 13 cents to 9 cents a tonne to Singapore quotes.

TENDERS:

– Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) has issued its first tender to buy fuel oil, in a move from direct-term deals with suppliers, as it opens its purchasing contracts.

The company is seeking a total of 160,000 tonnes of 180-cst high sulphur fuel oil through eight deliveries from August through to December. The tender closes on July 20 and is valid for 75 days, the tender document showed.

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