FOB Rotterdam 0.5%S marine fuel barges were assessed at $447.75/mt on April 9, up from $442.25/mt the previous week.

Marine fuel 0.5%S

• Support for European 0.5%S marine fuel has faded in recent weeks as the arbitrage east has slowed, with regional sources highlighting rising supply against weaker downstream fundamentals.
• Stocks of fuel oil in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region dropped 16% to 1.517 million mt in the week to April 8, according to data from Insights Global, following an increase of 5.2% the previous week.
• However, sources continued to voice demand for low sulfur straight fuel oil as a blendstock into the marine fuel bunker blending pool.
• The premium for delivered 0.5%S marine fuel over barges at Rotterdam was $8.25/mt on April 9, down from $11.75/mt the week previous.
• The bunkers market continued to report satisfactory demand at best in the Northwest European region last week. Overall availability of bunkering product was satisfactory, with some issues with 0.5%S marine fuel in the in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region.
• In the Mediterranean, windy weather conditions halted supply operations at Gibraltar on April 8 for a period.

High sulfur fuel oil

• Saudi Arabia has been seen pulling in fuel oil cargoes from the ARA region in April, with the Aframax Seatribute loading about 80,000 mt of fuel oil from Rotterdam on April 4 with an estimated time of arrival at Yanbu port of April 19, according to data from cFlow, Platts trade flow software.
• Weak demand weighed on high sulfur fuel oil differentials in Europe, despite the recent interest for the product from Saudi Arabia.
• “Looks [like HSFO is] still under pressure,” one European based trader said. “I don't see a lot of demand, and there is oil around up in the north and in the Mediterranean.”
• Rotterdam 3.5% fuel oil barges on an FOB basis finished the week to be assessed at $336.25/mt on April 9 down from $343.25/mt in the previous week.
• The Hi-5 bunkers spread, the difference between 3.5%S fuel oil and 0.5%S marine fuel grew steadily in the week ending April 9, up $17/mt to $106/mt at Rotterdam. The Capesize scrubber premium rose from $3,183/day to $3,674/day during the same period.
• The 3.5% FOB Rotterdam barge crack spread was assessed at minus $9.62/b on April 9, the lowest since April 30, 2020, when it was at minus $10.11/b.

Feedstocks

• Tepid demand for distillates like diesel and jet fuel in Europe has caused a number of feedstocks traders to report high sulfur vacuum gasoil values to be lower over the past few weeks.
• Conversely, the high gasoline crack spread has led to traders reporting higher low sulfur VGO values. The differential between high and low sulfur vacuum gasoil was consequently wider.