Fuel oil delivery stock for futures in nine appointed terminals of the Shanghai Futures Exchange amounted to 395,200mt as of Jun 17, down 17,800mt or 4.3% from a week earlier, according to data released by SHFE.
Traders were reluctant to pick up fuel oil in view of soft demand in spot market as international crude prices plunged below US$100/bbl, market sources said.
Fuel oil delivery warrants dropped 10,100mt to 154,300mt in the period, down 7,200mt in Guangdong and down 2,900mt in East China.
Calculated by benchmark September contract, spot-futures arbitrage margins averaged minus Yuan 347/mt in recent week, versus minus Yuan 337/mt in the previous week.
The stock of fuel oil futures according with the existing specifications was 29,400mt, down 2,700mt or 8.4% on week, occupying 19% of the total storage, SHFE's data also indicated.
SHFE designated a total 910,000 cu m of delivery stock for fuel oil futures at the nine terminals.
