Egypt's state-owned EGPC has awarded two bitumen cargoes under its latest tender for January imports to trading firms Vitol and Gunvor.
The tender followed cancellation of two cargoes under EGPC's December buy tender into Alexandria, both understood to have been 5,000-6,000t, with cargo delivery deferrals from November into December after EGPC awarded a 30,000t cargo and three 5,000-6,000t cargoes under its November import tender to Vitol and BB Energy unit 3B Trading.
The Egyptian firm subsequently sought two January cargo deliveries into its Alexandria terminal, one 30,000-33,000t and the other 5,000-6,000t.
It has now been confirmed that Vitol was the winner of the larger cargo, for 5-15 January delivery, awarded at a premium of around $62/t to fob Mediterranean high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cargoes, delivered basis Alexandria. Gunvor won the smaller cargo, for 29-31 January delivery into Alexandria, at a delivered premium of around $58/t to fob Mediterranean HSFO cargoes.
The rate of EGPC cargo imports into Alexandria has slowed over recent weeks, both because of cargo deferrals from November into December and linked to a rare foray of import requirements by the firm into Suez.
The last one of those Suez cargoes was delivered into Suez last week on board the 6,065dwt Fuji Lava that had been loaded at the BB Energy terminal at Mersin, Turkey.
Mediterranean trading and supply firms sa idEGPC is now in a broadly balanced supply/demand position, with its domestic production and import shipments meeting current construction sector requirements in Egypt. Some now think a February tender reboot is on the cards, with the possibility of a sizeable new EGPC import tender.
