Singapore's middle distillates stocks dip for third week amid robust net exports
Singapore's middle distillates inventories fell for a third straight week, tracking the strength in gasoil/diesel net exports, official data showed on Thursday.
Stocks of diesel/gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene at key oil storage hub Singapore were at 10.239 MMbbl for the week ended Sept. 18, down from 10.919 MMbbl last week, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
Net exports of gasoil/diesel gained by more than threefold week on week, driven by a 60% drop in total imports.
Total diesel/gasoil imports this week were mainly from Malaysia and South Korea, with volumes from swing suppliers in India and the Middle East absent.
More cargoes from India and the Middle East, more than 1 MMbbl, are estimated to arrive in the next two weeks, ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
The overall improvement in arbitrage export margins from key diesel suppliers to Singapore since August, which is largely a result of weakness in the freight markets, will likely cause an influx of diesel into Singapore in the medium term, says Sparta Commodities analyst James Noel-Beswick.
As a whole, the city-state is expected to import between 5 MMbbl and 6 MMbbl of diesel/gasoil in September, the data showed, with LSEG data expecting this level to be at a four-month high.
Meanwhile, total diesel/gasoil exports were little changed from last week, with key export regions being the usual suspects such as Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia.
For jet fuel/kerosene, net exports dipped by around 46% from a week earlier, capping the overall drawdown in middle distillates stockpiles.
Exports of the aviation fuel to several regions such as Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia slowed.
(1 ton = around 7.45 bbl for gasoil)
(1 ton = around 7.88 bbl for jet fuel/kerosene)
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