Uptrend seen in fuel oil prices

Uptrend seen in fuel oil prices

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Singapore high sulfur fuel oil prices were rangebound yesterday but the current healthy trend was expected to continue in the near term, traders said.

Late in the Asian trading day, July loading cargoes were bid at US$98.50 per ton and offered at $99.00. Despite the narrow range between bids and offers, no deal was concluded.

Quotes were rangebound, staying between recent levels of $97- $99, traders said.

A recent active buyer in the market, a Singapore trader, has already bought a total of 120,000 tons of fuel oil for July loading in the last week.

The local trader said he would continue to buy at under $100 per ton.

But a handful of traders were skeptical of any further rise.

"Even if he continues to buy, I wonder if there is genuine demand in the region to serve as outlet for his purchases so far," said one major.

Some traders said although there were pockets of enquiries for China, Vietnam's tender demand, and Indonesia, current demand was not out of the ordinary.

There were also additional supplies from the Mideast with a western trader heard bringing a cargo to the region at the end of July.

Swaps were also steady, July and August swaps quotes at $98.50/$99.50.