KARACHI: Total petroleum and lubricant sales clocked in at 1.75 million tons in November 2021, depicting an increase of 2.0 percent on year-on-year basis while down by 12 percent on month-on-month on account of significant decline in furnace oil (FO) volumes.

FO volumes clocked in at 0.18 million tons, down by 46 percent on month-on-month basis compared to 0.33 million tons in October 2021. The decline in sales volumes is attributable to power requirement in winter season, which is usually lower compared to summer resulting in slowdown in dispatches and increase in prices of MS and HSD, Arsalan Hanif at Arif Habib Limited said.

On a yearly basis, sales volumes witnessed a meager growth of 2.0 percent on YoY which was mainly led by sales growth in FO and HSD by 3.0 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively. During the first five months of FY22, sales of total petroleum products increased by 18 percent on YoY to 9.60 million tons versus 8.16 million tons in the same period last year.

Dissection of data revealed that double digit growth was witnessed in all categories; MS, HSD and FO with offtake undergoing a jump to 3.81 million tons, 3.74 million tons and 1.78 million tons (amid higher requirement from FO based power plants), up by 11 percent, 20 percent and 29 percent on YoY against 3.44 million tons, 3.12 million tons and 1.38 million tons in the same period last year, respectively.

Company-wise analysis demonstrates that PSO posted growth of 9 percent on YoY in November 2021 which was majorly contributed by sales growth of FO by 86 percent on YoY. This growth was followed by APL and SHEL portraying growth of 19 percent and 6 percent on YoY, respectively. However, HASCOL posted a decline of 78 percent on YoY due to significant decline in sales volumes of MS and HSD.

During the first five months of FY22, PSO managed to expand its market share by 4.5 percent to 51.0 percent compared to 46.4 percent in the same period last year. The market share of APL and SHEL remained stable at 9.4 percent and 7.6 percent. However, market share of HASCOL and other OMCs dropped by 3.6 percent and 1.0 percent to 1.4 percent (5.0 percent in 5MFY21), and 30.6 percent (31.6 percent in 5MFY21), respectively.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021