East of Suez Market Update 13 Aug

Most prices in East of Suez ports have moved down, and availability of all grades in tight in Singapore.

IMAGE: Aerial view of Singapore container terminal. Getty Images

Changes on the day to 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT) today:

• VLSFO prices down in Singapore ($41/mt), Zhoushan ($36/mt) and Fujairah ($19/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Zhoushan ($4/mt), and down in Fujairah ($18/mt) and Singapore ($14/mt)
• HSFO prices down in Zhoushan ($18/mt), Singapore ($17/mt) and Fujairah ($12/mt)

Singapore’s VLSFO price has significantly declined over the past day, marking the steepest drop among the three major Asian bunker ports. Despite the decline, Singapore’s VLSFO remains at premiums of $19/mt over Zhoushan and $11/mt over Fujairah.

VLSFO availability in Singapore remains tight, with suppliers now recommending lead times of 12–21 days, compared with 12–24 days last week. Supply continues to face pressure as the port’s fuel oil inventories have yet to recover to pre-conflict levels. Cargo inflows also remain disrupted amid fragile US-Iran peace talks, which continue to affect traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Enterprise Singapore data shows that Singapore’s fuel oil inventories fell from more than 23 million bbls in March, to below 18 million bbls in June. Although stocks recovered slightly to about 19 million bbls in July, they remain below 20 million bbls.

Several suppliers in Singapore are also dealing with tight delivery schedules, further limiting VLSFO availability.

HSFO availability remains tight as well, with recommended lead times of 12–21 days, compared with 10–24 days a week earlier. LSMGO lead times have also increased to 4–12 days, from 2–11 days last week.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has lost by $1.84/bbl on the day, to trade at $87.37/bbl at 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Brent’s price has continued to trade above $85/bbl mark as rising hostilities in the Middle East keeps the market on edge.

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless Washington agrees to the six demands, including a total cessation of all US military action in the region and the immediate withdrawal of all US forces from the region.

In response, US President Donald Trump demanded that Iran pay “compensation” to Washington for war-related damages.

“There was little in the way of fresh developments between the US and Iran, with both sides remaining in a deadlock,” two analysts from ING Bank noted.

Downward pressure:

Brent’s price has declined after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a significant build in crude stocks.

Commercial US crude oil inventories increased by a massive 17.4 million bbls to 424.4 million bbls in the week ending 7 August, according to data from the EIA.

“The EIA’s weekly report was fairly bearish,” ING Bank’s analysts said, adding this is the largest weekly increase since January 2023.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) also reported a sizeable inventory gain of 9.07 million bbls during the same week.

A build in US crude stocks typically indicates lower demand for oil and can put some downward pressure on Brent's price.

By Tuhin Roy and Aparupa Mazumder

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