As of September 10, 2026, SNSUC Research Institute’s monitoring shows integrated tank utilization across East China ports—including Ningbo, Zhoushan, and Yangshan—has reached 91.4%, up 2.3 percentage points from the prior trading day and marking the highest level of 2026. This metric strongly correlates with the +4.70% daily gain in fuel oil futures (¥4,119/t) and +2.99% rise in asphalt futures (¥5,095/t), reflecting not demand-led strength but ‘logistics-driven premiums’ triggered by physical storage constraints: when utilization exceeds 90%, refiners and traders compress discharge windows and extend vessel waiting times, directly inflating demurrage costs. Per the Yangtze River Delta Fuel Oil Barge Dispatch Log published by Shanghai Shipping Exchange on September 9, average anchorage waiting time has risen from a 3.2-day August average to 4.7 days, lifting demurrage rates from $12,500/day to $14,750/day (+18%). Notably, this surge diverges sharply from WTI’s modest +0.45% and Brent’s flat performance, confirming that current price momentum stems from localized infrastructure bottlenecks—not energy cost pass-through. On the FX front, USD/CNY’s 0.03% uptick to 6.7117—though below critical hedging thresholds—exacerbates landed cost pressure: since demurrage is USD-denominated, the effective RMB cost increase is estimated at ¥130–180/ton for a typical 50,000-ton fuel oil vessel. Regional arbitrage economics further reveal strain: waterborne freight from Ningbo to South China has risen to ¥185/ton (+12% w/w), while intra-East-China barge rates hit ¥92/ton (+21% w/w)—significantly outpacing asphalt (¥68/ton, +7% w/w) and natural rubber (¥41/ton, flat), underscoring intensified short-haul competition for scarce heavy-oil storage slots. SNSUC Research Institute recommends: clients planning fuel oil intake before end-Q3 should secure bonded tank slots for late-September to early-October (current vacancy rate: just 4.1%), or consider alternative nodes like Qingdao or Dalian where utilization stands at 68.3%—albeit with added ocean freight costs. Concurrently, immediate settlement of USD-denominated contracts facing confirmed demurrage exposure is advised while USD/CNY trades near 6.71, mitigating dual risk from logistics inflation and FX volatility.