European gasoline margins steady amid slow trade

Northwest European gasoline refining margins remained almost unchanged on Monday amid slow trade in the region. Intense storms and floods hit Western Europe at the weekend, slowing down barge shipments. The trade remained subdued on Monday, Dutch consultancy Insights Global said, and only a few deals and offers were registered.

Arrivals of European gasoline and gasoline components to the United States were seen at around 232,000 tonnes so far in February, Refinitiv Eikon data shows. China's auto market, the world's largest, is likely to see sales slide more than 10% in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus epidemic, the country's top auto industry body told Reuters on Friday.

Several Chinese independent refineries, or teapots as the industry calls them, have snapped up crude supplies after prices slumped, betting that they are bottoming out and China's demand could recover from the coronavirus outbreak in coming months. The refineries have been absent from the market for weeks since the Lunar New Year holiday of late January.