Oil products trade on Platts slumps in May as coronavirus hits demand - data

By Roslan Khasawneh SINGAPORE, June 4 (Reuters) - The volume of oil products traded during S&P Global Platts' Market-on-Close process in Singapore plunged 74% in May from a year ago as the coronavirus pandemic slashed demand and a major trader halted business, data analysed by Reuters showed. The trades are used by Platts to assess prices for millions of barrels of oil products sold in Asia. "Demand has been destroyed mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Matt Stanley, oil broker at StarFuels, adding that price volatility and the absence of notable local oil traders had also hurt confidence and credit liquidity. Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, one of Asia's largest oil traders, stopped trading in the window after it ran into financial trouble in April, followed by ZenRock Commodities Trading Pte Ltd in May. Platts did not respond to a request for comment. Among the range of products traded, gasoil was the hardest hit by volume, the data showed. Refinery maintenance and run cuts have crimped the supply of oil products in Asia, a Singapore-based trader said. Trading volumes for low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) with 0.5% sulphur, the new international marine fuel benchmark that came into force in January, slumped 74% in May from April, the data showed. Singapore is the world's top bunkering hub. By contrast, traded volumes for gasoline held firm in May at 2.3 million barrels, up 2% from the previous month, but still 33% lower than May 2019. Gasoline cash deals rebounded in May over April as traders returned to fill supply usually provided by Hin Leong, an industry source said. "Traders had to take some time to adjust and fill in the void," the source said. Gasoline(' Naphtha Gasoil Jet HSFO LSFO Total Fuel Total 000 bbls) ('000 ('000 fuel ('000 ('000 Oil ('000 oil tonnes) bbls) ('000 tonnes) tonnes) tonnes) products bbls) May 2020 2300 225 450 490 220 100 320 3785 April 2020 2250 275 3750 1545 320 380 700 8520 May 2019 3450 675 7902 850 1580 0 1580 14457 % change mom 2% -18% -88% -68% -31% -74% -54% -56% % change yoy -33% -67% -94% -42% -86% NA -80% -74% (Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh, Koustav Samanta and Seng Li Peng Editing by Florence Tan and Richard Pullin)