--DES Northeast Asia

Discussions for DES Northeast Asia cargoes remained at the low ebb. Many players were reluctant to procure spot cargoes actively amid perceptions that the off-peak demand season was nearing. Meanwhile a source at a Japanese end-user said, "Cold waves push up demand for some days, but we often have warm weather for other days. Thus, the average demand is stable from normal years and any impact from cold snaps is limited." As for resale, the source said, "We originally programmed relatively light volumes of imports for March-April delivery when we made our annual procurement plan, so that we have limited cargoes to sell on a spot basis. If we have a chance to sell, we would rather prefer to hold the cargoes until winter demand comes to an end for sure."

--FOB Middle East, DES South Asia and the Middle East

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) apparently failed to award its sell tender on an FOB basis. In the tender closed on Feb 3, ADNOC offered one cargo for Feb 26-28 loading out of the 6 mil mt/year Das Island project.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

In Europe, one cargo for first-half March delivery appeared to have been traded late last week at a discount of 85cts to the March contract on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF). A separate cargo for second-half March delivery was also traded late last week at a discount of $1.00 to the quotation. Discounts for second-half delivery were slightly larger than those for first half delivery since a peak demand season would be ended in second half March. Meanwhile, severe cold waves flowed from the Arctic circle to Europe and heavy snows were reported in Spain in the middle of last week.