SINGAPORE: The Asian gasoil margin slipped on Friday as stocks of the fuel remained ample in the region, with economics to ship the cargoes west less profitable than a month ago, traders said.
- WINSON OIL BUYS: Winson Oil bought three cargoes of gasoil on Friday, returning to snap up cargoes after a big buying spree in September, traders said.
The company has sold most of the cargoes it bought previously to the Philippines, Indonesia and South China's bunkering market, traders said, though this could not be confirmed.
- JURONG PORT: Singapore port operator Jurong Port is entering the oil storage business to diversify its revenue as volumes passing through its cement and steel terminals fall amid a slowdown in the construction and shipbuilding sectors, its chief executive said.
Jurong Port is building a 480,000 cubic metres oil storage terminal on 16 hectares (39.5 acres) of land on its site to store clean petroleum products to be ready in the last quarter of 2019.
The tanks will be mainly for middle distillates, the company said.
Despite a backwardated market - where front-month oil prices higher than in forward months make the storing of oil products uneconomical and yield a glut in storage capacity - demand for tank capacity is expected to recover in two to three years, said Jurong Port Tank Terminals' general manager Loh Wei.
Jurong Port is also banking on an increase in demand for marine gasoil ahead of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) fuel standards that start in 2020 and which will likely cause shipowners to use more low sulphur gasoil to power vessels instead of fuel oil.
- MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES: Middle Eastern carriers saw their slowest rate of international growth in September in over eight years, with a temporary ban on electronics and proposed travel restrictions hitting demand, according to an airline industry body on Thursday.
Demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, rose 3.7 percent in September, the slowest rise since February 2009, the International Air Transport Association said in its regular monthly traffic update.
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