Japan imports less naphtha from the Middle East
Japanese imports of naphtha from the Mideast Gulf fell by 5pc on the year during January-August. Exports from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been significantly lower because of refinery turnarounds and lower crude runs.
But Japanese buyers increased naphtha imports from other sources, with total imports rising by 4pc to 11.71mn t during the eight-month period. The increase is linked to a fall in production as a result of refinery run cuts. Japan produced 173,625 b/d from 26 July to 29 August, down by 47.5pc from 330,470 b/d a year earlier, according to weekly data from the Petroleum Association of Japan, because of the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Japan imported 1.66mn t of naphtha in August, up by 5.6pc from July and by 13.8pc from August 2019, according to customs data released today by the country's finance ministry.
Japan received 5.84mn t of naphtha from the Mideast Gulf during the eight-month period, down from 6.15mn t a year earlier, according to the ministry of finance.
Qatar was the top exporter of naphtha to Japan, supplying a total of 2.55mn t from January-August, up from 2.03mn t a year earlier. This made up more than 21pc of Japan's total naphtha imports and 43pc of all its Mideast Gulf naphtha imports during the eight-month period.
Imports from the UAE fell by 30pc to 1.59mn t during January-August from 2.26mn t a year earlier, with more naphtha diverted to the gasoline blending pool and reformers.
Japan imported 849,000t of naphtha from Kuwait during January-July, but took no cargoes from the country in August. Saudi Arabia sold just one 40,000t cargo to Japan in August, with total imports from the kingdom down to 415,000t over January-August from 620,000t in the year-earlier period.
Supplies from Bahrain were almost stable from a year earlier at 445,000t during January-August, but naphtha arrivals from the country rose above 100,000t in August from 75,000t in July. Planned maintenance at Bahrain's sole 262,000 b/d Sitra refinery may reduce its export capacity this month. Operator state-owned Bapco will shut down unspecified units for maintenance in the first week of October. It is unclear for how long the units will be off line, but market participants said the turnaround is likely to last 40 days.
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Mexico's long refining quest tilts in its favour
Mexico's long refining quest tilts in its favour
Mexico City, 6 May (Argus) — Mexico's six-year campaign to boost refinery output and cut its dependence on US oil imports is starting to pay off, but time will tell if it can sustain the effort. State-owned Pemex's six domestic refineries processed more than 1mn b/d of crude in March for the first time in almost eight years, boosting its gasoline and diesel output by 32pc and cutting its imports by 25pc from a year earlier. Combined with Pemex's still declining crude production, this has pulled approximately 500,000 b/d of Mexican crude exports — mostly medium and heavy sour grades — from the market compared with a 2023 peak of 1.2mn b/d in June — equivalent to the loss of about 175,000 b/d on average this year compared with 2023. The government said earlier this year that it was not planning "significant" export cuts after cancelling some term contracts. But the drop in shipments combined with the eventual start of its long-delayed 340,000 b/d Olmeca refinery, possibly in 2025, has the potential to shift global flows. At least two independent US Gulf coast refiners are sceptical of major shifts. Road fuel demand is expected to exceed capacity additions in the coming years, Marathon Petroleum chief executive Michael Hennigan said recently. Valero, which is opening a marine storage terminal in Mexico, where about 250 retail outlets carry its brand, expects demand from Mexico to remain strong and grow, chief operating officer Gary Simmons said in its latest earnings call. The impact of Mexico's shift to greater self-sufficiency will depend heavily on its ability to sustain its long-promised refinery renaissance. Mexico's crude exports have already picked up in April from March, to roughly 660,000 b/d based on ship tracking data, although still about 125,000 b/d lower than a year earlier. Energy independence Pemex's refining rates started to fall in 2014 after the previous administration chose to rely less on domestic production and focus more on opening the energy market to outside investment. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed to make Pemex great again and build a big refinery to reach "energy independence" when he took office in late 2018. Lopez Obrador poured at least $3.7bn into maintenance alone at Pemex's ageing refineries in 2019-23, excluding major projects including uncompleted ones to add cokers at two refineries that will cost $6bn-8bn and a spiralling $16bn-20bn for the Olmeca plant. It bought out Shell's share in the Deer Park refinery in Texas , taking full control of the plant in 2022. With presidential elections set for June, it was time to show results. But Pemex has a long history of high accident rates , making refinery operations unreliable. The next administration may have to sustain some of this spending and tackle Pemex's $101.5bn debt at a time of calls for structural reform. In addition, the 330,000 b/d Salina Cruz and 315,000 b/d Tula refineries — Mexico's largest — have long struggled with elevated high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) production that takes up valuable storage space and makes it hard to run both plants at high rates simultaneously. Record-high exports of HSFO in March helped and Pemex is building coking units at both refineries to solve this, but they are unlikely to both start until early 2025. Attention is on whether and when the Olmeca refinery will affect Mexican demand and offer balance more permanently. Pemex said it will start producing diesel in late May, but also does not expect more than 9,000 b/d of output of all fuels this year . The refinery has missed multiple deadlines, the latest in April. Olmeca's crude unit — the first processing unit — faces "major issues", a source familiar with Pemex refinery operations says. But others say secondary processing units are ready. Pemex refinery operating rates % Domestic refineries Mar 24 Feb 24 Tula 78 80 Salina Cruz 72 40 Madero 69 60 Salamanca 62 60 Cadereyta 58 60 Minatitlan 53 50 Pemex Pemex exports, imports ’000 b/d Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Indonesia’s PIS seeks MR vessels to ship oil products
Indonesia’s PIS seeks MR vessels to ship oil products
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Dutch FincoEnergies supplies B100 biodiesel to HAL
Dutch FincoEnergies supplies B100 biodiesel to HAL
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US job growth nearly halved in April: Update
US job growth nearly halved in April: Update
Adds services PMI in first, fifth paragraphs, factory PMI reference in sixth paragraph. Houston, 3 May (Argus) — The US added fewer jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked up and average earnings growth slowed, signs of gradually weakening labor market conditions. A separate survey showed the services sector contracted last month. The US added 175,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department reported today, fewer than the 238,000 analysts anticipated. That compared with an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in March and a downwardly revised 236,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9pc from 3.8pc. The unemployment rate has ranged from 3.7-3.9pc since August 2023, near the five-decade low of 3.4pc. The latest employment report comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its target lending rate unchanged for a sixth time and signaled it would be slower in cutting rates from two-decade highs as the labor market has remained "strong" and inflation, even while easing, is "still too high". US stocks opened more than 1pc higher today after the jobs report and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.47pc. Futures markets showed odds of a September rate cut rose by about 10 percentage points to about 70pc after the report. Services weakness Another report today showed the biggest segment of the economy contracted last month. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) services purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 49.4 in April from 51.4 in March, ending 15 months of expansion. The services PMI employment index fell to 45.9, the fourth contraction in five months, in today's report. Readings below 50 signal contraction. On 1 May, ISM reported that the manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 in April, after one month of growth following 16 months of contraction. In today's employment report from the Labor Department, average hourly earnings grew by 3.9pc over the 12 month period, down from 4.1pc in the period ended in March. Job gains in the 12 months through March averaged 242,000. Gains, including revisions, averaged 276,000 in the prior three-month period. Job gains occurred in health care, social services and transportation and warehousing. Health care added 56,000 jobs, in line with the gains over the prior 12 months. Transportation and warehousing added 22,000, also near the 12-month average. Retail trade added 20,000. Construction added 9,000 following 40,000 in March. Government added 8,000, slowing from an average of 55,000 in the prior 12 months. Manufacturing added 9,000 jobs after posting 4,000 jobs the prior month. Mining and logging lost 3,000 jobs. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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