German filling station operators stocked up on E5 gasoline this week after domestic prices reached their lowest level of the year.
Importers are sourcing more gasoil cargoes because of lower cif premiums in August.
Traded E5 gasoline volumes for prompt loading reported to Argus rose by 17pc in the week ending 31 August. The average domestic price for E5 fell to its lowest level this year of €129.10/100l on 28 August.
Filling station operators used the low prices to refill their tanks, market participants said. Demand at the pump is higher after the end of the summer holidays as work commutes resume, traders said.
Cif Hamburg 10ppm diesel premiums fell to just under $11/t in August, a drop of about $13/t from July, because of increased supply.
Overall gasoil imports into northern Germany rose by 73pc to around 575,000t in August. Almost a quarter of this came from the US, a year-to-date high. The Netherlands supplied 15pc, while India supplied 67,000t — around 11pc of the total — to the port of Hamburg. These were the first deliveries from India since June, after arbitrage conditions imoproved in July.
Sweden supplied 16pc of the 421,000t of diesel imports, which arrived in Rostock and Bremen. This is the highest amount from Sweden in at least two years. Import volumes rose in August after Varo Energy took over Swedish company Preem in July. Varo Energy took over around 80pc of Swedish refinery capacity through this transaction.
Import interest on the River Rhine remained weak even as freight rates fell because of rising water levels. This is because of low domestic diesel demand and a steeper backwardation structure in Ice gasoil futures. The backwardation has widened by almost $1.50/t since mid-August to $3.75/t, making it unattractive for importers along the Rhine to build stocks, shipowners said.
