- Stronger fundamentals this year have lifted the 380-cst cash differential to Singapore quotes to an average of a 75 cents premium for the first six months of this year versus a discount of $1.22 for the same period last year.

- "Bids have been strong, encouraging sellers to release cargoes," a Singapore-based source said, explaining the reason behind the recent high volume of deals.

- The 1.3 million tonnes of 380-cst traded in total in June, for instance, was more than 60 percent higher than during the same period of last year when they totalled less than 900,000 tonnes.

WINDOW TRADES

- July kicked off with four deals on 380-cst but no transactions for 180-cst grade.

TENDERS

- Bahrain has offered up to 80,000 tonnes of 380-cst fuel oil for July 28-31 loading through a tender closing on July 7.

- India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has offered three cargoes of 180-cst grade at 25,000 tonnes each for July 24-25 loading from Mumbai and August/September loading from Mumbai respectively.

- HPCL's tender will stay valid until July 5.