Stocks of middle distillates at key trading hub Singapore fell for the third consecutive week, as higher net exports remained in focus, official government data showed on Thursday.

As of April 19, inventories for middle distillates comprising gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene were at 8.062 million barrels (1.082 million tonnes), compared with 8.814 million barrels a week earlier, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

The drop was attributed to higher net export volumes of both gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene.

On the gasoil front, net exports for the week were more than twice the volumes of the previous week’s at around 379,000 tonnes.

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

Total imports rose as well, but at a slower pace compared with total exports on limited Chinese volumes.

Likewise, jet fuel/kerosene net export volumes rose around 92% week-on-week to 73,714 tonnes.

Below are the top export contributor countries for jet fuel and their respective volumes (in tonnes) for the week:
Imports of jet fuel/kerosene mostly came from South Korea.
Import volumes from China for both fuels have been absent since end-March/early April, in line with earlier expectations of decreasing exports from the country on better domestic netbacks and this phenomenon could continue in the near term.

“Gasoil demand (in China) will gradually increase as outdoor construction, infrastructure and logistics services have entered peak demand season,” said Refinitiv Oil Research.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap and Matthew Chye; Editing by Varun H K)