Chinese Diesel exports near the record of 2.83mt

Oil prices declined this week, with ICE Brent trading down about 0.5%. A firmer dollar this morning is weighing somewhat on the complex. Nuclear talks over the weekend continued, and further discussions will be held during the week.

Talks have been effective, according to the U.S., although they have announced sanctions will not be lifted until there is confidence that Iran will significantly lessen its nuclear activity. Iran has announced that there are still large differences with the U.S. However, it has still started to work on the draft text to revive the nuclear deal. The medium-term outlook remains constructive, as the oil market is likely to resume tightening.

China Trade data revealed that Chinese gasoline exports in March equaled 1.56mt, down 14.6% YoY. This slump is more a reflection of the strong exports we saw in March 2020, when refiners boosted export sales due to weak domestic demand related to coronavirus lockdowns.

However, YTD gasoline exports increased by over 12% YoY to total 5.09mt. Moreover, diesel exports, fell by 0.6% YoY to total 2.81mt in March, close to the record 2.83mt of diesel exported in April 2020.

Baker Hughes data reveals that the U.S. oil rig count rose by 7 over the last week to total 344, the largest amount of active oil rigs since April last year.

Recent rains in Argentina seem to be helping crop prospects in the country

The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange rose its corn production estimate for Argentina to 46mt for 2020/21, compared to its previous estimate of 45mt. Recent rains in Argentina seem to be helping crop prospects in the country.

The latest data from the Indian Sugar Mills Association suggests that India’s sugar output boosted by 17% YoY to 29.1mt through until 15th April. Remarkably, the country has exported about 2.5mt of sugar this season until the end of March, with another 0.8mt anticipated to be shipped in April.