SGX queries CEFC International after price surge

Petrochemical and fuel oil trader CEFC International was queried by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Tuesday afternoon about the unusual trading activity in its shares.

The query came after the counter shot up 80 per cent, or S$0.08, to finish at S$0.18 on Monday. About 127.5 million shares were traded, drawing the attention of market watchers.

Asking whether the company knew of any information that might explain the price spike, SGX noted that this was the second trading query issued to CEFC in the past month.

The company had been queried on July 13, also about the unusual price and volume movements in its shares that day.

It replied by pointing to a July 7 SGX filing about potential joint ventures. It had said that it was in talks to buy into a company that owns a floating storage tank and was also in discussions with a consortium to acquire a stake in a company "engaged in the construction of certain port facilities and cargo transportation in China".

CEFC shares had jumped from S$0.034 on July 10 to S$0.06 on July 13, and have been rocketing upwards since.

It was up 6.5 Singapore cents to S$0.245 on 93.1 million shares traded at around 3pm on Tuesday.