SINGAPORE, May 6 (Reuters) - Asia cash premiums were firmer on Monday,
rising nearly $1 on expanding concerns over thinner June arbitrage supply flows
from the West into Asia.
Although no deals were seen transacted in over-the-counter (OTC) trade, the
strength of the bids in the market helped boost differentials for the benchmark
180-centistoke (cst) grade.
Following the Asian close, 180-cst cash premiums were pegged at $5.41 a
tonne, rising 89 cents from the close on Friday, Reuters data showed.
Western traders Mercuria and Glencore were extremely aggressive in their
bids at both the front and back-end of the trading cycle May 21-June 5.
Mercuria had a bid of $4.50 a tonne at the front-half of the trading window,
while Glencore registered its intent to buy at $5.00 on the back end of the
cycle and with an equally aggressive bid at the front end of nearly $6.30 a
tonne, placing it higher than Mercuria's.
"Clearly the strength of the bids reflects the view that the market is
expected to be tight in or around these dates," a trader said.
"I'd expect to see this continue at least through the first half of June."
Despite some slippage of May Western arbitrage arrivals into early June,
traders estimate that total Western fuel oil arrivals for June should be around
4 million tonnes, down nearly 20 percent from the previous month.
Prompt Asia timespreads were pegged at $5.875 a tonne, strengthening 62.5
cents from the previous session close.
* CASH DEALS: No trades
FUEL OIL
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev Close
Cargo - 180cst 628.40 10.42 1.69 617.98
Diff - 180cst 5.41 0.89 19.69 4.52
Cargo - 380cst 618.10 7.47 1.22 610.63
Diff - 380cst 4.19 -0.08 -1.87 4.27
Bunker 620.50 7.00 1.14 613.50
(Ex-wharf)-
380cst
Bunker (Ex-wharf) 2.40 -0.47 -16.38 2.87
Premium
SWAPS ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev Close
(0830 GMT)
Brent M1 104.39 1.96 1.91 102.43
180cst M1 625.13 10.13 1.65 615.00
180cst M1/M2 5.88 0.63 12.00 5.25
180cst M2 619.25 9.50 1.56 609.75
Visco M1 9.63 2.38 32.83 7.25
Visco M2 8.13 1.38 20.44 6.75
380cst M1 615.50 7.75 1.28 607.75
380cst M1/M2 4.38 -0.37 -7.79 4.75
380cst M2 611.13 8.13 1.35 603.00
Cracks 180-Dubai -5.97 -0.65 12.22 -5.32
M1
Cracks 180-Dubai -5.79 -0.64 12.43 -5.15
M2
East-West M1 32.50 -0.75 -2.26 33.25
East-West M2 30.50 -0.50 -1.61 31.00
Barges M1 592.63 10.88 1.87 581.75
Barges M1/M2 3.88 0.88 29.33 3.00
Barges M2 588.75 10.00 1.73 578.75
Crack -13.81 -0.42 3.14 -13.39
Barges-Brent M1
Crack -13.73 -0.49 3.70 -13.24
Barges-Brent M2
(Reporting by Luke Pachymuthu; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
