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India's Mangalore Refinery Petrochemicals (MRPL) has successfully completed the sale of an 80,000 tonne parcel of fuel oil, Reuters reports.

MRPL is understood to have sold the cargo to Switzerland-based Glencore International AG, one of the world's largest suppliers of commodities and raw materials.

The parcel, which is scheduled for loading between August 22nd and 24th from New Mangalore, was sold at a discount of $16 to Singapore spot quotes according to market sources.

The cargo sale comes at a time when demand for fuel oil in Asia is very low and the regional fuel oil market is finding it difficult to find outlets for arbitrage cargoes arriving from Europe and Latin America. Demand in the region has been severely affected by a 55 percent rise in prices since the start of the year.

Last month Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) concluded the sale of a 30,000 tonne parcel of 4 percent sulphur and 0.998 density 380-centostoke (cst) fuel oil for loading between 17th and 19th July from Visakhapatnam. Market sources said oil major BP had purchased the cargo.

In May HPCL was reported to have sold 90,000 metric tonnes of 4 percent sulphur and 0.998 density 380-centistoke (cst) fuel oil for loading between the months of June and August. The refiner also sold a similar-sized cargo for loading from its Mumbai terminal on August 8th to 10th at a disount of US$25 FOB basis.

MRPL is located at Katipalla, north of Mangalore city. It is a state-of-the-art grassroots refinery at Mangalore with a production capacity of 190,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The company is a subsidiary of Indian petroleum firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC).