Thursday, 2 September 2010 at 12:59, Reuters, Singapore
Saudi Aramco sold two September-loading fuel oil parcels, totalling 180,000 tonnes, into the Middle East at low price levels amid scant buying interests from Singapore players, traders said on Thursday.
The first cargo, an A961 parcel of 180-centistoke (cst), for September 17-19 lifting from its 550,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Ras Tanura refinery, was sold to France's Totsa at a discount of around $3.00 a tonne to Singapore spot quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, similar to an earlier deal for an early September lot that was done at two-year low price levels.
The second lot, a 380-cst cargo for second-half September loading from its joint-venture Sasref plant in Jubail, was sold to Middle East trader FAL Oil at a discount of $7.00-$8.00 a tonne to spot quotes, down from around minus $6.00 previously.
"Buying interest from Singapore players have been poor for a while, so much so that Aramco has departed from usual practice of showing the cargoes to most of the players here," a Singapore-based Asian trader said.
"Supplies are not that high this month and demand from the bunkers market is steady. But I think most traders are not willing to take positions on physical cargoes because of the tough trading environment that has seen many players not doing well."
Most of the Saudi cargoes that have been sold since June-loading have ended up in the Middle East, traders said.
The last sale, for an A961 parcel loading September 5-7, was at a two-year low price of minus $3.00-$3.50 a tonne to Singapore spot quotes, FOB.
Volumes from the kingdom for next month are at 350,000-400,000 tonnes, including the latest two cargoes, up from 300,000-350,000 tonnes this month, as it emerges from the seasonal peak summer demand period.
September Western arbitrage flows are low at 3.2-3.3 million tonnes, below the monthly average of 3.4 million tonnes, but October volumes are expected to be higher with 3.3-3.4 million tonnes booked so far.
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