KARACHI: Due in large part to extra working days as compared to February, total sales of petroleum products increased to 1.82 million tons in March, registering an increase of 23 percent on year-on-year and 19 percent on month-on-month basis.

Apart from the additional working days, the growth in petroleum products’ sales volumes in March is primarily attributable to growth in auto sales leading to increase in demand for MS, coupled with greater reliance on FO-based power plants, says Muhammad Iqbal Jawaid, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited.

MS posted a growth of 13 percent on YoY and 19 percent on MoM basis, clocking in at 0.77 million tons in March. Likewise, High Speed Diesel (HSD) witnessed an increase of 29 percent on YoY and 17 percent on MoM basis, settling at 0.69 million tons in the month under review.

Sales volumes of Furnace Oil (FO) increased by 33 percent on YoY and 27 percent on MoM basis, reaching 0.28 million tons on the back of higher demand from the Independent Power Producers.

During the first nine months of FY22, sales of petroleum products climbed up by 15 percent on YoY basis to 16.26 million tons against 14.15 million tons in the same period last year.

Data arranged product-wise showed that a double-digit increase was witnessed in all categories; sales of MS, HSD and FO clocked in at 6.68 million tons, 6.38 million tons and 2.67 million tons, respectively.

Company-wise analysis showed that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) posted a jump of 38 percent on YoY basis in March which was largely contributed by growth in sales of HSD and MS of 55 percent and 17 percent, respectively, Mr Jawaid said.

Likewise, sales of APL and SHEL witnessed an increase of 27 percent and 11 percent on YoY basis, respectively. However, HASCOL’s sales plunged by 68 percent on YoY basis due to massive reduction in MS and HSD volumes.

During the first nine months of FY22, PSO’s market share jumped by 4 percent on YoY basis to 50 percent against 46 percent in the same period in FY21.

The market shares of APL and SHEL remained unchanged at 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively. However, market share of HASCOL dropped by 3 percent on YoY basis to 1 percent as compared to 4 percent in the first nine months of FY21.

The market shares of other marketing companies dropped to 31 percent in the first nine months of FY22 from 32 percent in the same period last year, Mr Jawaid added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022