Asia Fuel Oil-380-cst HSFO market inches higher on Fujairah loading delays

SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market in Asia inched higher this week as cargo loading delays from Fujairah to the East of Suez posed temporary supply constraints. No fuel oil was loaded from Fujairah to Singapore and Malaysia after July 24, showed Refinitiv ship-tracking data as of Thursday. Shipping operations at Fujairah are still struggling to ramp up after weather disruptions in the previous week, traders said this week. Most bunkering slots were only available from mid-August onwards, with no prompt slots as traders await replenishment to deliver previously fixed stems. The backlogs have also kept delivered bunker fuel premiums elveated at Fujairah. In Asia, HSFO cash premiums and margins also firmed slightly this week, with the Middle East being a key HSFO exporter. "HSFO crack spreads in Singapore gained slightly in recent trading, but prices indicate the impact of Fujairah port outages will be short-term," said Timothy France, Refinitiv's senior fuel oil analyst for MENA. The 380-cst HSFO cash differential <380-SIN-DIF> rose $2.21 to a premium of $6.62 per tonne over Singapore quotes on Thursday. SINGAPORE INVENTORIES Singapore fuel oil inventories dipped to a twelve-week low of 18.01 million barrels (2.84 million tonnes) in the week to Aug. 3, latest data from Enterprise Singapore showed. OTHER NEWS - Oil prices rose on Thursday as supply concerns triggered a rebound from multi-month lows plumbed in the previous session after U.S. data signalled weak fuel demand. - Miner and trader Glencore said it would return an additional $4.5 billion to investors, including a share buyback of $3 billion, after reporting a record half-yearly profit mostly due to high coal prices. - Belgian oil tanker and storage operator Euronav reported a sharp rise in its quarterly earnings, citing a substantial improvement in freight markets. WINDOW TRADES - HSFO: One 180-cst trade, Two 380-cst trades - VLSFO: One 0.5% VLSFO trade ASSESSMENTS FUEL OIL CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE CHANGE PREV CLOSE RIC Cargo - 0.5% VLSFO 697.44 -13.36 710.8 Diff - 0.5% VLSFO 19.12 -6.25 25.37 Cargo - 180cst 493.61 -9.47 503.08 Diff - 180cst 1.68 -1.66 3.34 Cargo - 380cst 467.90 0.08 467.82 Diff - 380cst 6.62 2.21 4.41 Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 380cst 9.85 0.07 9.78 Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 0.5% VLSFO 48.00 -7.00 55.00 For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below. Brent M1 180cst M1 180cst M1/M2 180cst M2 Visco M1 Visco M2 380cst M1 380cst M1/M2 380cst M2 Cracks 180-Dubai M1 Cracks 180-Dubai M2 East-West M1 East-West M2 Barges M1 Barges M1/M2 Barges M2 Crack Barges-Brent M1 Crack Barges-Brent M2 (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; editing by Uttaresh.V)