Asia gasoline physical spot activity on the trading window was limited, despite a firm market structure, as trading sentiment turned slightly cautious amid cloudy outlook.

Gasoline front-month markets were still supported by firm demand fundamentals, though some traders turned cautious on the supply front.

Rising supply availability is expected from second half of next month as some refiners bring their gasoline producing units back online after overhauls, several trade sources say.

The market is unlikely to crash immediately but the market structure should starting easing bit by bit, one of the sources added.

Refining margins (GL92-SIN-CRK) for the motor fuel closed the trading session 10 cents down to around $13.2 a barrel.

On tenders, Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) closed a tender this afternoon to sell two 250,000 barrel cargoes loading November 16-20 and November 20-24.

Naphtha spot activity was equally thin on the trading window, with refining margins (NAF-SIN-CRK) slipping to $87 per ton amid firmer energy prices.

Discussions for December parcels were still underway, though traders are expecting deals to be done at almost similar levels from last month.

NEWS

– Supertanker freight rates surged this week and are set to stay elevated on U.S.-China tit-for-tat hikes in port fees and concerns about the fallout from U.S. sanctions on a major Chinese crude oil terminal.
– Trading firms have diverted at least five more crude oil tankers from a major port in eastern China after the U.S. imposed sanctions on an import terminal there on Friday, according to trading sources and shipping data.
– French oil major TotalEnergies expects to report an increase in third-quarter results, it said on Wednesday, as higher upstream production and improving margins for refining crude offset lower oil prices and liquefied natural gas output.
– Oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session, as investors weighed the International Energy Agency’s warning of a supply surplus in 2026 and U.S.-China trade tensions that could curtail demand.

INVENTORIES

– U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories likely fell, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

– No deals for gasoline or naphtha
Source: Reuters