Northwest European diesel barge refining margins ended the week slightly lower at $22.3 a barrel as demand stayed weak in the region.
Demand for diesel in the region remained weak, with buying activity in Germany down around 3% in June from a year earlier, traders and brokers said.
Barge loading congestion in northwestern Europe continues into its third week, said Insights Global’s Bianca Stoiciu, increasing floating storage of products and limiting the number of available barges when low water levels on the Rhine also mean vessels cannot fully load.
ARA gasoil stockpiles were down 1.5% in the week to Thursday, hitting a fresh 6-1/2-month low as strong imports were outweighed by bigger exports, according to Insights Global.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday oil demand is set to hit a record high this year and the market is tightening, but economic headwinds and interest rate hikes have deflated growth expectations slightly.
Diesel imports into Europe are expected to have reached 4.63 million tonnes so far in July, according to Refinitiv ship-tracking data, compared with 6.3 million tonnes in June.
The July figure includes 260,000 tonnes of Russian diesel transferred onto larger vessels off the coast of Greece, according to Refinitiv analyst Raj Rajendran.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
