Having one eye set to analytical insights and the other on industry events, Vortexa provides a brief outlook on the shipping industry’s future. It seems that the tanker sector will need to surf high and wild waves, both in the short and the long term.
Latin America has been a key importer of road transportation fuels in 2021. However fundamentals, seasonality and shipping indicators are signaling that the demand pull may be behind us.
With the US driving season having come to an end, a pillar of support also breaks away for Asian gasoline cracks. But regional fundamentals and strong petchem operations are set to keep gasoline cracks supported.
China’s crude trade flows continue falling trend as crude imports from the Middle East & Africa diverge, while crude imports from Americas & North Sea ease. At the same time, clean product imports and fuel oil imports are falling and trending lower as typhoon disruptions further dampen arrivals. Can China turn things around?
The WTI market is set for structural weakness as rising West of Suez demand is more than offset by drastic policy changes in China and rising Middle Eastern supplies.
China issued a third batch of crude import quotas last week, but limited quotas will keep crude imports subdued for the rest of the year, which is further reinforced by a soft domestic demand outlook and limited product export quotas.
China’s contribution to crude tonne-miles has dwindled year-to-date according to Vortexa freight data as the country continues to decrease crude imports. Other nations have stepped in to fill the void as our data shows.
As we witness global naphtha cracks continuing strength since the spring, we can see that seaborne naphtha imports carry on their impressive recovery. Strong flows are expected to continue on the back of firm petrochemical demand East of Suez and European gasoline blending.
Asia’s diesel/gasoil exporters are facing growing headwinds in moving barrels to the West. Despite the challenges, Asia's diesel/gasoil balances have been moderated by three key drivers – China’s slowing exports, robust regional demand and newbuild VLCC arbitrage – maintaining regional cracks stable.
A series of domestic policy changes and market headwinds in recent months has upended China’s refining industry, putting a tight lid on the country’s crude imports and product exports. Vortexa sheds light on evolving trends in the country's crude imports and product exports.
A flood of diluted bitumen cargoes has rapidly filled up storage tanks in Shandong, as traders and refiners scrambled to offload the cargoes before the consumption tax on diluted bitumen imports kicked in on 12 June. With this new tax in place, independent refiners are expected to cut back on diluted bitumen and raise Malaysian crude blends and fuel oil imports to meet their feedstocks requirements.
China’s new consumption tax on imports of mixed aromatics and light cycle oil (LCO) is about to turn the tides of its domestic supply and exports of gasoline and diesel/gasoil. Downside risks on MR tanker demand looms ahead.
China's crude imports have slowed in April. A rebound in Q3 is faced with headwinds as refiners look to draw down their stockpiles amid elevated crude prices.
Vortexa outlines how global crude imports show a slow recovery for refiners.
The cold snap in North Asia ensured steady LPG export demand throughout January even as US propane prices reached their highest levels in over two years.
What are some of the key crude arbs to watch in 2021? We highlight three crucial flows that will influence global oil markets this year.
China's LNG imports have soared to record levels as a cold snap sweeps through the country. But a slow down in purchases have been seen in recent weeks, as importers turn away from sky-high premiums.
Floating storage told the story of the extraordinary moves in oil demand and supply in 2020.
Singapore’s fuel oil market has reached one of its tightest periods so far this year amid on and offshore inventory draws.
On 16th November, our Americas Analyst and Product Specialist team reviewed what the potential impact of the incoming Biden administration and 117th Congress will have on the global oil markets.
Australia’s refining sector has been dealt another blow by BP’s recent announcement to shut its Kwinana refinery in Western Australia, and convert it into an import terminal by early next year.
Australia’s Lytton and Geelong refineries are being threatened with permanent shutdown as the compounding impact of the pandemic on oil demand drags on. We postulate the changes on crude and refined products flows if the refineries shut.
US crude loadings to China are en course to reach a 4-month high in September, as more bookings emerge along the route for October.
On 14 July 2020, we held a webinar discussing the dynamics of US crude exports to China and what predictions we can make from the data. Watch on demand now.
Crude exports from the US port of Corpus Christi have dominated Houston's exports in the past ten months on the back of increased connectivity to the Permian and Eagle Ford basins.
Crude volumes heading to China in week 6 (w/e 9 February) held relatively steady amid limited on-the-water diversions. Vortexa also observed higher middle distillate and gasoline exports, as well as LPG diversions.
China’s seasonally high refinery runs and the recent start-up of its two new mega-refineries is reflected in its strong November clean refined products exports.
China’s seaborne crude imports are poised to maintain their momentum in November, Vortexa data show, after touching a multi-year high of over 10mn b/d in October.
China’s growing refined product exports—mainly gasoline, jet/kero and diesel types—have kept the regional market across Asia well-supplied this year.
China's crude imports from Saudi Arabia surges by nearly 45% year-on-year to 1.55mn b/d in the first seven months of this year, Vortexa data shows.