IOC offers 30 KT for July

SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has issued a tender offering 30,000 tonnes of July-loading fuel oil, maintaining hefty export volumes from the country for a second straight month during the peak export season, traders said on Monday.

The 380-centistoke (cst) parcel, of maximum 4.5 percent sulphur and 0.995 density, is for loading on July 17-20 from the refiner's Chennai terminal, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. The tender closes on June 18 and will remain valid till a day later.

''The market is quite bullish over the past week and Indian refiners see it as a good time to offer. I would expect the total July volumes to be at least as high as June,'' a Singapore-based Asian trader said.

In total, Indian refiners have sold or offered 260,000 tonnes for July and have sold seven-month high volumes totalling 330,000 tonnes for June, Reuters data show.

IOC , an irregular seller, has sold or offered 120,000 tonnes since May, including the current parcel. It last sold a similar June-loading parcel to Vitol at a discount of - a tonne to Singapore spot quotes.

The East Asian market has been bullish over the past week, reflected by cargo differentials for the benchmark 180-cst grade that has risen from a discount of .00 a tonne to a month-high premium of .50 on Friday.

REUTERS SR GC1215