Singapore’s middle distillates inventories edged down by 1.4% week on week as net exports of both diesel/gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene both gained, though Middle East diesel/gasoil barrels stayed prevalent, official data showed on Thursday.

Stock levels of diesel/gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene at key oil storage hub Singapore were at 10.587 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 9, down from 10.742 million barrels in the previous week, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Net exports of diesel/gasoil gained by 6%, while net exports of jet fuel/kerosene gained around 48% week on week.
On the diesel/gasoil front, total imports for the week fell at a quicker pace than total exports.

Imports mostly came from the Middle East and South Korea, with the rise in inflows from the Middle East in line with earlier market expectations given the better seller profits compared to markets west of Suez.

Cargo flows from the Middle East and India could be stable month on month in October, Kpler shiptracking data showed.

Swing barrels out of both the Middle East and west coast India continue to point east of Suez, and with the east-west price spread having narrowed once more, there is little sign of an appetite to pull east of Suez barrels into the west currently, said Sparta Commodities analyst Philip Jones-Lux.

Meanwhile, traders were mixed on the volumes coming from northeast Asia amid the refinery maintenance season and also continuous talks of lowered production in that region because of squeezed refining profits.

For net exports of diesel/gasoil, volumes from Singapore were mostly bound for Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

More exports to regional destinations such as Indonesia and Malaysia could emerge going forward because of unexpected production outages there until November, one trade source said.

On the jet fuel/kerosene front, total imports remained minimal – likewise a week earlier – while total exports gained by 48%.

Export volumes were mostly heading to regional destinations such as Australia and New Zealand for the week.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)