ARA Diesel Arrivals Slump in August

ARA diesel and gasoil arrivals have slowed in August and imports may remain lower beyond this month amid the start of seasonal maintenances in other regions according to Argusmedia and Vortexa data.

• ARA received only one Handysize tanker of gasoil in the first six days of August, according to Vortexa. There were no larger cargoes and only a smattering of smaller ones, for a total of around 75,000t of gasoil including low-sulphur diesel. This equates to just 13,000 t/d, compared with 54,000 t/d or 1.65mn t/month in the first seven months of this year.
• Only a further 520,000t are signalling arrival at ARA in August.
• Traders said Europe is likely to receive scarce resupply in August as economics have turned against east and west trade routes. Buyers said they have struggled to find sellers and sellers said they have little to offer according to Argusmedia.
• Diesel arrivals in Europe may remain scarce beyond this month amid seasonal maintenance in the Middle East and India in September-November.
• European refiners will be conducting their own seasonal work in those months. Two of Germany's largest refineries will conduct partial maintenance — BP's 265,000 b/d Gelsenkirchen site and Miro's 299,000 b/d Karlsruhe. Galp's 226,000 b/d Sines refinery in Portugal will undergo work on a crude unit and a fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) in the fourth quarter.