Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore fell to six-week lows in the week to Aug. 30, official data showed on Thursday, driven by a fall in net imports. Onshore fuel oil stocks eased 10% to 19.92 million barrels (3.14 million metric tons), data from Enterprise Singapore showed. Weekly net imports, calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports, dipped 7% at 551,000 metric tons.

Brazil was the top origin for Singapore's fuel oil net imports at 131,000 tons, more than doubling from last week. This was followed by the United Arab Emirates, with net imports at 103,000 tons, though the volume declined from the previous week. Middle Eastern supplies to Asia cooled after the high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market softened. Singapore's HSFO market weakened in the previous week, with the cash differential sliding to single-digit premiums per ton, versus about $30 per ton in early August.

September fuel oil supplies from the Middle East to Asia are pegged below 1 million tons as of this week, Refinitiv ship-tracking data showed, though more loadings are expected to emerge in the coming weeks. Supplies from the Middle East hit about 2 million tons in August and September respectively, the ship-tracking data showed, as a strong high-sulphur market drew barrels to Asia. Meanwhile, most of Singapore's fuel oil exports landed up in China, Philippines and Bangladesh in the week to Aug. 30, showed Enterprise Singapore data. Aug 30, Fuel oil (in tonnes)

Total Imports Total Exports Net Imports BANGLADESH 0 15,097 -15,097 BRAZIL 130,489 0 130,489 CHINA 22,911 98,112 -75,201 ESTONIA 71,475 0 71,475 GABON 18,575 0 18,575 GUAM 0 0 0 HONG KONG 0 17 -17 INDIA 63,202 460 62,742 INDONESIA 24,264 0 24,264 KOREA, REP OF 5,547 0 5,547 KUWAIT 41,363 0 41,363 MALAYSIA 218,420 86,447 131,972 PHILIPPINES 0 17,974 -17,974 QATAR 1,010 0 1,010 RUSSIA 44,454 0 44,454 TAIWAN 4,185 16,298 -12,114 THAILAND 15,019 0 15,019 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 102,635 0 102,635 UNITED STATES 21,616 0 21,616 VIETNAM 0 193 -193 TOTAL FOR 27101979 785,164 234,599 550,565 (Data from Enterprise Singapore) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; editing by Miral Fahmy)