European Spot Diesel Markets Sluggish

European diesel spot markets have grown quiet in recent weeks, with no diesel cargoes traded in the Platts e-window in almost a month, in either northwest Europe or the Mediterranean according to Argus.

• The most recent trade was Trafigura buying a spot cargo from Glencore on a cif Immingham basis on 26 May.
• Term volumes — whether imported from outside Europe or supplied from within — are proving sufficient to meet demand. The steep backwardation in the Ice gasoil futures market is also a strong disincentive to buy spot diesel while those looking to avoid Russian supplies face limited volumes.
• Europe's other key diesel suppliers, such as Saudi Arabia and India, are offering lower volumes than usual at the moment because markets east of Suez are themselves tightly supplied.
• Price reporting agency Platts changed the basis of its European benchmark diesel price assessment on 1 June to exclude Russian-origin product. There have been no trades in the e-window since then.