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India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) has sold an 80,000-tonne cargo of fuel oil scheduled for loading in March, Reuters reports.

The 380-centistoke (cst) parcel is due to be lifted from New Mangalore on March 12th-14th after a deal was reportedly reached with Petrodiamond at a discount of $2.00 per tonne to Singapore spot 380-cst quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

Last month, MRPL sold a similar-sized cargo of 380-cst for lifting on February 26th-28th. The deal, which was made to energy trading company Vitol, is also understood to have been sold at a discount of $2.00 per tonne to Singapore spot 380-cst quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

A month earlier, Vitol also purchased an 80,000-tonne cargo of 380-cst fuel oil from MRPL, however the discount was much greater at around $5.70 to $5.90 per tonne to Singapore spot 380-cst quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

The discount was even higher - at around $13.00 a tonne to Singapore spot 380-cst quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis - when Japan's Petrosummit bought an 80,000-tonne cargo of 380-cst from MRPL in November.

Despite flagging bunker sales and a drop in buying interest from China, which still has stock left over from the buying rush ahead of a fuel tax increase on January 1st, fuel oil demand has been strong.

The increased buying interest has been sparked by cuts in refinery runs in the United States, which has led to a rise in demand in North America for European cargoes bound for Asia.