Most prices in East of Suez ports have moved down, and VLSFO and HSFO lead times vary widely in Singapore.

IMAGE: An old wooden cargo ship setting out from Port Klang. Getty Images

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

• VLSFO prices down in Singapore ($6/mt), Fujairah ($3/mt) and Zhoushan ($1/mt)
• LSMGO prices unchanged in Fujairah, and down in Zhoushan ($5/mt) and Singapore ($3/mt)
• HSFO prices unchanged in Singapore and Fujairah, and down in Zhoushan ($5/mt)
• B24-VLSFO at a $171/mt premium over VLSFO in Singapore
• B24-VLSFO at a $181/mt premium over VLSFO in Singapore

Singapore's VLSFO price has dropped by $6/mt, representing the largest decline among the three major Asian bunker ports. This price decrease is driven by two lower-priced VLSFO transactions completed at the port, which pulled down the overall VLSFO benchmark. Consequently, Singapore's VLSFO now stands at a $6/mt premium compared to Fujairah, while remaining at a $9/mt discount to Zhoushan.

VLSFO delivery schedules in Singapore continue to vary significantly between suppliers. Some can provide delivery within five days, while others require advance booking of up to three weeks. This represents a marginal improvement from the previous week's range of seven days to four weeks.

LSMGO delivery times have shown better improvement, with most suppliers now advising 2-6 days compared to 4-7 days last week. HSFO lead times have expanded to 8-13 days, showing greater variability than the previous week's 4-9day range.

At Malaysia's Port Klang, both VLSFO and LSMGO supplies are easily accessible with immediate deliveries available for smaller quantities. However, HSFO availability remains constrained.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has moved $0.38/bbl lower on the day, to trade at $68.53/bbl at 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT).

Upward pressure:

The European Union’s (EU) latest round of sanctions on Russian energy has provided modest support to Brent’s price this week.

Last week, the EU approved the 18th package of economic sanctions, aimed at limiting Moscow’s oil revenues.

The EU targeted 105 shadow fleet vessels that Russia allegedly uses to circumvent the price caps set on its crude and oil products.

The EU has also lowered the oil price cap for Russian crude from $60/bbl to $47.60/bbl.

“It [price cap] will be set dynamically at 15% below market rates moving forward, which would see the threshold start off somewhere between USD45–50/bbl [$45-50/bbl],” said ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.

Downward pressure:

Brent’s price has slipped on worries that mounting US-EU trade tensions may dent crude oil demand by undermining global economic activity.

“[The] persistent US trade tensions stoked worries that countries may not be able to strike deals before the August 1 deadline,” remarked VANDA Insights’ Vandana Hari.

EU envoys are set to meet this week to formalise a plan to respond to a possible no-deal scenario with the US, Bloomberg Reports.

The US is expected to put a near-universal tariff on EU goods higher than 10%, with fewer exemptions, another Bloomberg report adds.

“The trade deal impasse could hurt economic activity and thus crude oil demand,” Hynes added.

By Tuhin Roy and Aparupa Mazumder

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