Singapore fuel oil inventories hit 9-month high as demand ebbs

SINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Singapore's residual fuel oil inventories jumped 10% to their highest in more than nine months, in the week ended Feb. 19, despite plummeting net import volumes, in the latest sign of sluggish bunker demand in the city-state, official data showed on Thursday. - Onshore fuel oil stocks jumped by 2.169 million barrels (about 342,000 tonnes) to 24.231 million barrels, or 3.816 million tonnes from the previous week, data from Enterprise Singapore showed. - This came despite net import volumes falling to a nearly five-month low of 364,000 tonnes, down 54% from the previous week and well below the 2020 weekly average of 877,000 tonnes. Weekly figures, however, are volatile. - Residual fuel stocks were 18% higher, compared with a year-ago period. - Demand for Singapore bunkers has fallen this month, weighed down by seasonally weaker demand during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays that has been compounded by slowing shipping activity as a result of the spread of the coronavirus. - A.P. Moller-Maersk, world's biggest container shipping firm, said on Thursday the coronavirus outbreak would weigh on earnings this year and it expected a weak start to the year because factories in China were closed for longer than usual after the Chinese New Year holiday. - Singapore's fuel oil net exports to Hong Kong topped the list for the week at 99,000 tonnes, followed by South Korea with 96,000 tonnes, India with 66,000 tonnes and the Philippines with 44,000 tonnes. - The largest net imports into Singapore were Malaysia's 202,000 tonnes, followed by Russia with 175,000 tonnes, Belgium with 98,000 tonnes and Brazil with 83,000 tonnes. - Weekly imports from Russia were at five-week high. - Separately, fuel oil inventories stored in floating storage around the Singapore hub slipped 1% to 4.496 million tonnes, in the week ended Wednesday, of which low-sulphur fuel oil volumes were at 3.917 million tonnes, up by 2% from the previous week, according to data intelligence firm Kpler. Feb 19 Total Imports Total Net Exports Imports Fuel oil (in ALGERIA 65,769 0 65,769 tonnes) BANGLADESH 0 30,042 -30,042 BELGIUM 97,925 0 97,925 BRAZIL 83,257 0 83,257 CHINA 0 38,004 -38,004 HONG KONG 0 98,707 -98,707 INDIA 0 65,533 -65,533 IRAQ 49,777 0 49,777 KOREA, REP OF 0 96,443 -96,443 MALAYSIA 349,651 147,419 202,231 MYANMAR 0 0 0 PHILIPPINES 0 43,609 -43,609 RUSSIA 174,764 0 174,764 THAILAND 20,992 50,700 -29,708 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 52,248 0 52,248 UNITED STATES 40,530 0 40,530 TOTAL 934,912 570,455 364,457 (Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)