HSFO
The HSFO complex saw a reasonable amount of strength this week, which was disproportionately focused in Asia, causing the 380 E/W to rally aggressively, with the Aug contract rising from $13/mt to $21/mt.
We saw plenty of trade house buying across the HSFO complex, with notable net positioning additions being in the Aug 3.5% barge crack (+600kb) and Aug VISCO (+521kb).
The VISCO had an extremely mixed fortnight, which saw its price in Aug fall $3 from $6.75/mt to $3.75/mt from 28 June to 08 July, before then rallying to finish the fortnight up at $7/mt.
VLSFO
The VLSFO complex had a fairly varied week in price action, as whilst outright contracts typically strengthened in the first week, they tended to retrace down post-05 July.
The Aug 0.5% barge crack rallied from $3.55/bbl to $4.50/bbl from 28 June to 02 July, but then lost support post 05 July to end the fortnight at $3.50/bbl.
The prompt 0.5 E/W had a weak fortnight indicating relative European strength, lingering around $42.50-44/mt levels before ticking down significantly on 11 July to $41.85/mt amidst trade houses reducing their net position in the Aug contract by over 425kb.
