Singapore fuel oil stockpiles inch up; net imports extend climb

By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - Onshore fuel oil stockpiles at key trading and storage hub Singapore edged up to a two-week high, with net imports recovering for a second straight week. Inventories inched 1.6% higher to 19.60 million barrels (3.09 million metric tons) in the week ended July 3, Enterprise Singapore data showed. Net imports of fuel oil, calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports, climbed 34.5% week-on-week to about 927,000 tons. Top cargo origins were Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, excluding storage movements from Malaysia. Meanwhile, top destinations for fuel oil outflows from Singapore's onshore tanks were China, Hong Kong and Australia. Current inventory levels remained ample to meet market demand, said industry sources, with price benchmarks remaining capped in recent trading sessions. Spot premiums for the high-sulphur market eased below $4 a ton this week, while low-sulphur premiums held rangebound below $5 a ton. Cargo inflows from the West to East Asia, including Russian volumes, are expected to reach about 3 million tons for July, slightly higher than June, calculations based on LSEG ship-tracking data showed this week. Week to July 4, Fuel oil (in Total Total Net Imports metric tons) Imports Exports AUSTRALIA 0 45,998 -45,998 BANGLADESH 0 15,105 -15,105 BRAZIL 54,894 0 54,894 CHINA 0 65,292 -65,292 HONG KONG 0 46,850 -46,850 INDIA 0 187 -187 INDONESIA 17,027 0 17,027 IRAQ 79,210 0 79,210 KOREA 0 0 0 KUWAIT 132,228 0 132,228 MALAYSIA 428,589 124,792 303,797 MARSHALL ISLANDS 0 6,950 -6,950 MEXICO 55,862 0 55,862 NEPAL 0 41 -41 NETHERLANDS 92,937 0 92,937 OMAN 59,931 0 59,931 PERU 0 0 0 RUSSIA 104,577 0 104,577 THAILAND 14,626 0 14,626 TURKMENISTAN 27,536 0 27,536 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 116,592 0 116,592 UNITED STATES 48,786 0 48,786 VIETNAM 0 159 -159 TOTAL 1,232,797 305,374 927,423 (Data from Enterprise Singapore) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sohini Goswami)