Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore rebounded to three-week highs in the week to Aug. 23, official data showed on Thursday, led by a jump in imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Onshore fuel oil stocks rose 10% to 22.10 million barrels (3.48 million metric tons), data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Total fuel oil imports climbed 14% week-on-week to 945,000 tons, while fuel oil exports also edged higher to 351,000 tons. The UAE was the top origin for Singapore's fuel oil imports, with volumes at 354,000 tons, versus zero volume last week.

A strong high-sulphur market continued to provide a draw for Middle Eastern barrels to Asia, according to ship-tracking data from Refinitiv. Monthly fuel oil supplies from the Middle East to Asia surpassed 2 million tons in both July and August, compared with an average of 1.4 million tons/month in the first half of 2023, the data showed.

Prices of high sulphur fuel oil rallied in early August, though the market showed signs of easing this week. Singapore's 380-cst HSFO cash differential fell below $20 a ton for the first time in more than three weeks, after hitting 16-month highs in early August. Meanwhile, most of Singapore's fuel oil exports landed up in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Bangladesh in the week to Aug. 23, showed Enterprise Singapore data. Aug 23, Fuel oil (in Total Total Net tonnes)

Imports Exports Imports BANGLADESH 0 31,483 -31,483 BRAZIL 54,852 0 54,852 CHINA 17,383 0 17,383 HONG KONG 0 56,062 -56,062 INDIA 0 72 -72 INDONESIA 12,042 0 12,042 JAPAN 37,334 0 37,334 KOREA 0 0 0 MALAYSIA 82,646 164,712 -82,067 NETHERLANDS 140,430 0 140,430 PHILIPPINES 0 38,603 -38,603 RUSSIA 99,692 0 99,692 SUDAN 17,821 0 17,821 TAIWAN 23,491 25,288 -1,797 THAILAND 18,562 0 18,562 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 353,608 0 353,608 UNITED STATES 79,892 34,994 44,899 VIETNAM 6,977 0 6,977 TOTAL 944,730 351,214 593,516 (Data from Enterprise Singapore) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)