Trafigura, Gunvor and BB Energy are among the winners of a Helleniq Energy tender to sell eight 4,000-5,000t cargoes of pen 50/70 or 60/70 bitumen with loading dates from end-July through to end-August or early September, trading firms participating in the tender said.
The firms said award values were at fob cargo premiums to fob Mediterranean high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cargoes in the $30s/t, fob basis Aspropyrgos. The Helleniq cargoes will be loaded at the firm's 146,500 b/d Aspropyrgos refinery, as usual. One award was indicated at low $30s/t premiums, while others were in the mid $30s/t, tender participants said.
The full details of the tender award are yet to be disclosed and it was unclear if all eight cargoes had been awarded.
The latest award follows June and July tenders.
While the June awards were made at $12/t and $18.5/t fob premiums to the regional HSFO prices to Asphaltos and Trafigura respectively, Helleniq awarded its July cargoes to Trafigura and Overseas Petroltrade at $20-22/t fob premiums. Gunvor is also this week loading an Aspropyrgos cargo.
The sharp new rise in tender award values under the August tender underlines a further tightening in cargo availability this month, which has driven up spot premiums. That is partly linked to a bitumen production halt at Eni's 88,400 b/d Taranto refinery in southern Italy since early July that will last a few months.
While few if any spot cargoes are understood to be currently available across the Mediterranean for prompt dates, some market participants said cargo lifters would now have to pay at fob premiums exceeding $40/t to secure Greek, Spanish or Italian exports.
Helleniq's July sell tender was for up to seven bitumen export cargoes of pen 50/70 or 60/70, each also 4,000-5,000t, while traders said Helleniq had stipulated eight cargoes under the August tender.
So far in July, four bitumen cargoes have been loaded at Aspropyrgos by third parties, namely Overseas, Trafigura and Gunvor. Four additional cargoes have been shipped in internal transfers from Aspropyrgos to Helleniq's 100,000 b/d Elefsis refinery. The Elefsis coker is regularly fed by heavy residues and bitumen produced at Aspropyrgos that are converted to fuels including diesel.
Helleniq stepped up its bitumen production and exports after an extended halt to production of the product following a planned refinery turnaround that was due to have spanned February and March.
June crude receipts at Helleniq's Pachi terminal rose to a nine-month high of 240,000 b/d in June, including 40,000 b/d of Iraqi Kirkuk and 35,000 b/d of Norwegian Johan Sverdrup.
Motor Oil Hellas (MOH), the larger Greek refinery bitumen producer and exporter, has been hit by reduced production and hefty bitumen vessel loading delays in recent months after it was forced by the effective closure of the Hormuz strait to switch some of its crude intake from Iraqi bitumen-rich Basrah grades to lighter sweeter slates. The firm's 220,000 b/d Agioi Theodoroi refinery in Corinth has received two Basrah Medium cargoes over the past week after the temporary easing of flows, before the renewed Iran-US conflict all but closed off flows once more.
