SINGAPORE, April 6 (Reuters) - ExxonMobil has offered a second high-viscosity fuel oil cargo for April-loading, after selling its previous parcel at much lower price levels, amid an increasingly tight East Asian market, traders said on Wednesday.
The 700-centistoke (cst) cargo, totalling 90,000 tonnes, is for April 27-29 loading from the joint-venture Samref refinery in Yanbu, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, with a deal expected by Thursday.
It last sold a similar parcel, for April 12-14 lifting, to European trader Vitol at a discount of around $25.00-$27.00 a tonne to Singapore spot quotes, FOB, down from around minus $17.00-$18.00 for an end-March lot previously.
"The price for the last cargo was lower because demand from the Fujairah bunkers market has not been fantastic, but East Asia is tightening from second-half April, so we might see the cargo at similar or slightly higher numbers," a Singapore-based trader said.
Demand for marine fuels from Fujairah, the world's second largest bunkering port after Singapore, has been poor due to high fixed-price levels and high premiums for vessels calling at the region due to geopolitical tensions.
Premiums in the Middle East, reflected by the Fujairah marine fuels market, have weakened significantly over the past week, with bunker prices at the United Arab Emirates port at $1.50 a tonne below Singapore levels on Monday, falling from premiums of above $10.00 a tonne in February, Reuters data show.
Despite the poor Fujairah market, April-loading export volumes from Saudi Arabia has been thin, with only three cargoes, totaling 270,000 tonnes, sold or offered so far, including the current parcel, mainly due to planned turnarounds in the kingdom.
In contrast, the East Asian market is expected to strengthen from second-half April onwards, amid thin Western arbitrage inflows for the month, totalling 2.9-3.0 million tonnes, with most of the arrivals packed into the first half of the month.
TABLE OF SAUDI EXPORTS JAN-APR
SELLER GRADE VOL (KT) LOAD-DATE/PORT BUYER/PRICE
ExxonMobil 700cst 90 Apr 27-29 (Yanbu) pending
ExxonMobil 700cst 90 Apr 12-14 (Yanbu) Vitol/-$25/-$27/T
Aramco 180cst 90 Apr 7-9
