QUORA: Singapore 380 CST bunker fuel term contracts for the fourth quarter have been concluded at around parity to discounts of around $1/mt to the Mean of Platts Singapore 380 CST high sulfur fuel oil assessments on an ex-wharf basis, trade sources said Monday.
This compares with Q3 contracts which were concluded at discounts of $1/mt to premiums of $3/mt to MOPS 380 CST HSFO.
Premiums or discounts for physical bunker fuel are the prices buyers are willing to pay over or under published benchmark values.
The market has continued to weaken from Q3, with sufficient oil to go round, said trade sources.
Interest in term contracts has dropped slightly recently, with buyers saying they had been hurt by their previous Q3 term contracts as prices had been more attractive on the spot market.
This has likely resulted in more buyers deciding to take their chances on the spot market in October, and they also have to contend with their term contract volumes which may not have been fully utilized for the September or Q3 period, trade sources said.
Some of these volumes are likely to roll over to October as term contract loadings were slow in September, they added.
October supply from west to east, including other Asian destinations, is expected around 3.8-4.1 million mt.
Out of this volume, over 3 million mt is to end up in the Singapore market, trade sources said.
Of the Singapore volume, around one-third is of ready-grade for the bunker market and the rest are of high density and high viscosity material, market sources said.
November supply from west to east is expected around 2.5-3.6 million mt, with the window still open for more fixtures, they added.
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