Singapore bunker prices were mostly lower on Wednesday in thin pre-holiday trade, but prices rose elsewhere in Asia due to healthy China demand, traders said.
Traders in Singapore pegged 380-centistoke (cst) fuel oil at $158/$160 a tonne, down from $161/$162 on Tuesday. They pegged 180-cst at $163/$165, down from $166/$167.
"We are getting zero inquiries today. Not a single call," a Singapore-based trader said.
Singapore prices were underpinned by a draw in onshore stocks, which fell 925,000 barrels, or 8.9 percent, to 9.460 million barrels in the week from December 23-29, government trade data showed on Tuesday.
A South Korean trader said that recent fuel oil exports from South Korean refiners to China had helped to tighten the domestic bunker market supply.
In Hong Kong, a trader at an oil major said he had sold out of shipping fuel and that port traffic was keeping prices on the boil.
Marine gas oil in Hong Kong was pegged at $295 a tonne, up from $283 a week ago. Singapore marine gas oil prices were quoted at $274/$275 a tonne, up from $273/$274 a tonne on Tuesday.