Singapore's middle distillate stocks rise for third week, hit highest since Oct 2021

By Trixie Sher Li Yap SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Middle distillates stocks at key trading hub Singapore climbed for the third consecutive week, hitting their highest since October 2021, official data from Enterprise Singapore showed on Thursday. Onshore inventories for both gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene were at 9.627 million barrels (1.292 million tonnes) in the week ended March 22, the data showed. The weekly gain in stockpiles was attributed to a sharp spike in total import volumes for jet fuel/kerosene. The city state imported around 45,976 tonnes of the aviation and heating fuel in the week to March 22, a surge from 44 tonnes in the previous week. Imports from China accounted for more than 80% of the total volume. China's total jet fuel exports from January to February rose to 2.75 million mt, from 1.23 million mt in the same period last year, as refiners increased the outflow to liquidate high inventory while the aviation industry recovered from strict pandemic-related mobility control, Refinitiv Oil Research said. Increases in jet fuel/kerosene stocks were cushioned by steady exports of the fuel to regions such Australia and Vietnam. Separately, both imports and exports of gasoil rose by around 6.4% week-on-week. Notably, China's export volumes for the week surged to 136,370 tonnes from 28,801 tonnes a week earlier. Exports of both fuel from regional exporters to Singapore will likely continue in the short run because of limited end-user demand elsewhere, several trade sources said. Furthermore, Singapore is one of the major hubs for ship-to-ship transfers for further shipments to various countries within the Asia-Pacific region and local consumption, said David Jorbenaze, a senior analyst at analytics and consulting firm ICIS. Mar 22, Gasoil (in Total Total Net tonnes) imports exports exports AUSTRALIA 0 104080.76 104080.76 CAMBODIA 0 2546.878 2546.878 CHINA 136369.5115 0 -136369.5 115 GUAM 0.012 24081.592 24081.58 HONG KONG 0 38128.858 38128.858 INDIA 0.014 0 -0.014 INDONESIA 0 71560.495 71560.495 KOREA, REP OF 33099.898 0 -33099.89 8 MALAYSIA 79088.314 28609.283 -50479.03 1 MYANMAR 0 17666.812 17666.812 NETHERLANDS 0 28978.684 28978.684 NORTHERN MARIANA 0 5533.63 5533.63 ISLANDS PAPUA NEW GUINEA 0 16401.022 16401.022 SRI LANKA 0.0034 0 -0.0034 TAIWAN 0.004 0 -0.004 THAILAND 0.001 0 -0.001 UNITED ARAB 0.01 0 -0.01 EMIRATES UNITED STATES 0.005 21411.234 21411.229 VIET NAM 0 20462.238 20462.238 TOTAL 378328.6074 491232.402 112903.79 46 WoW % change 6.416025593 6.443118982 6.5340067 02 Mar 22, Jet fuel/kerosene Total Total Net (in tonnes) imports exports exports AUSTRALIA 0 45241.211 45241.211 BELGIUM 15.2562 0 -15.2562 BRUNEI 0 0.0905 0.0905 CANADA 0.032 0 -0.032 CHINA 39687.763 0 -39687.76 3 FRANCE 3.6538 0 -3.6538 GERMANY 0.0717 0 -0.0717 GUAM 0 3907.334 3907.334 HONG KONG 0 0.0009 0.0009 MALAYSIA 6268.821 1.348 -6267.473 NETHERLANDS 0.002 0 -0.002 NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 0 1005.03 1005.03 PHILIPPINES 0 1064.208 1064.208 SOUTH AFRICA 0 0.158 0.158 SPAIN 0.0374 0 -0.0374 VIETNAM 0 22459.192 22459.192 TAIWAN 0 0.0012 0.0012 TOTAL 45976.1428 73678.7336 27702.590 8 WoW % change 104639.5139 1.81714572 -61.69436 425 (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)