Fuel oil front-month closed at ¥4,434/t (+0.36), nearly flat on a day when crude fell on both sides, propped up by rigid bonded bunker demand. Zhoushan's bonded zone is pulling its bunkering window forward to compete with Singapore for the same ocean-going stem orders.

The spread between VLSFO and MGO sets a vessel's fuel choice. Stable low-sulfur fuel oil prices keep the operating-cost gap between scrubber-fitted and compliant low-sulfur ships compressed; once VLSFO is cheap enough against MGO, more owners pick VLSFO and Zhoushan's stem volume climbs with it.

A new demand variable: USD/KRW fell to 1338 (-0.33), the won strengthened, lowering the local-currency bunkering cost for Korean owners and lifting call intentions at Busan/Ulsan. That pressures Zhoushan to win stems on price and service. Across the three NEAsia bunker hubs — Zhoushan, Singapore, Busan — the game is now schedule-first, price-second.

For SNSUC's re-export chain this means bonded fuel-oil inventory turns faster, while road-demand bitumen gets left behind in the off-season. The split — fuel oil at 4434 holding, bitumen at 5013 down 3.5% — is fundamentally the bunker floor absorbing supply elasticity.