At the end of May, product stocks in Singapore rose by 3.0 mb for the second consecutive month to stand at 47.8 mb, which was 1.1 mb or 2.3% above the same period a year ago. Within products, light distillates and fuel oil went up, while middle distillates saw a drop.
Light distillate stocks went up by 0.2 mb, ending May at 12.8 mb, which is 1.0 mb or 8.3% above last year at the same time. Residual fuel oil stocks also rose by 3.1 mb in May, ending the month at 24.6 mb, which was 2.2 mb or 9.8% less than at the same time last year. Ongoing lower marine bunker demand in the region, combined with lower exports, were behind the build in fuel oil stocks. In contrast, middle distillate stocks fell by 0.3 mb in May, finishing the month at 10.4 mb, which was 2.1 mb or 16.9% below the same time a year ago.
Product stocks in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) rose by 4.2 mb in May, reversing the drop seen in April. At 41.8 mb, product stocks in ARA were 8.7 mb or 26.3% higher than the same time last year. All products experienced builds, with the bulk coming from fuel oil stocks.
Fuel oil stocks rose by 1.9 mb, ending May at 6.8 mb, which is 2.1 mb or 43% above a year ago at the same time. Lower exports were behind this build. Gasoline stocks rose by 0.5 mb in May to end the month at 6.4 mb, which is 2.0 mb or 24% below the same period last year. The build was mainly driven by declining demand in the region. Gasoil rose by 1.9 mb to stand at 21.4 mb, which was 5.9 mb or 37.8% higher than last year at the same time.