Middle distillate inventories at key trading hub Singapore fell for the first time in five weeks, tracking the surge in net export volumes, although gasoil imports from Russia and Saudi Arabia continued, official data showed on Thursday.

Stockpiles of gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene were at 7.732 million barrels (1.038 million metric tons) in the week ended June 21, down from 8.607 million barrels a week ago, the data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Net exports for both gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene rose by more than 16% and 100% respectively, resulting in a drop of more than 10% on week in overall stockpiles.

Gasoil exports were mostly to regional countries.

Below are the top export contributor countries for gasoil in the week and their respective volumes (in tons):

On the import front, volumes from Russia emerged again at 19,030 tons, while volumes from Saudi Arabia continued for the second consecutive week.

China volumes remained absent but there were expectations of some cargoes bound for Singapore in end-June to early-July, given improvement in export margins for Chinese refiners in the past week after domestic wholesale diesel prices fell.

At least two vessels from north China and south China carrying a total of up to 96,000 tons of gasoil are headed for Singapore, shiptracking data from Refinitiv and Kpler showed.

Likewise, jet fuel/kerosene exports out of Singapore were to regional import destinations.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap and Matthew Chye; Editing by Varun H K)