SINGAPORE: Cash premiums for cargoes of Asia’s 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) climbed to a three-month high on Tuesday despite absent deal activity in the Singapore trading window.

Expectations of tightening VLSFO supplies in and around the Singapore hub have helped bolster market sentiment so far this month, trade sources said.

The VLSFO cash premium climbed to $1.53 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Tuesday, up from $1.07 on Monday and its highest since April 15, Reuters data showed.

Pointing to a tighter supply outlook, backwardation in the front-month VLSFO time spread hit a more than four-month high of $2.50 a tonne on Monday and was unchanged on Tuesday, Refinitiv data in Eikon showed.

Vitol bought a 20,000-tonne 180-cst high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cargo from Shell at a 50 cent per tonne premium to Singapore quotes.

No 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) cargo trades were reported in the Singapore trading window.

India’s MRPL has offered 25,000 tonnes of marine fuel oil with a maximum 0.5% sulphur content loading over Aug. 6-8 from New Mangalore in a tender closing on July 16 with same day validity.

Boosted by a jump in sales of high-sulphur marine fuels, volumes of marine fuel sales in Singapore climbed to a two-month high in June despite a drop in bunkering calls at the world’s top refuelling hub, the latest official data showed on Tuesday.

Sales of marine fuels in Singapore were at 4.11 million tonnes in June, up by 1% from an 11-month low of 4.07 million tonnes in May, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed.