Australia April products demand at 93% of 2019 level; diesel imports hit 9-year high

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Australian oil product demand fell 2% in April, compared with March, but was back to within 7% of its pre-pandemic levels for the same month, data from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources showed Tuesday, as diesel imports soared.

April consumption of all products, including diesel, gasoline and jet fuel, was 93% of the April 2019 volume, up from January when demand was just 83% of the 2019 level and up from April 2020, when demand was just 69% of pre-pandemic levels.

The figures highlight the significant recovery made in recent months as the country eased social distancing measures.

Some restrictions remained in place throughout May in the country’s second-most populous state of Victoria, but were likely to be lifted in late June.

Domestic oil product deliveries - a proxy for consumption - fell by 94 million litres, or 2%, month-on-month to 4.6 billion litres in April, due to reduced transportation during the autumn season.

However, they remain up 1.2 billion litres year-on-year.

Specifically, gasoline deliveries fell 5% on the month to 1.37 billion litres, but were up 560 million litres year-on-year.

Diesel demand was down just 1% to 2.6 billion litres, and jet fuel, which has been heavily impacted by the pandemic, continued its steady recovery, rising 7% to 350 million litres in April.

Jet fuel remains the real laggard, at just 46% of its pre-pandemic level due to the ongoing closure of international borders.

External flights were at 26% of the pre-Covid levels, whereas domestic jet demand was at 82%, the same figures showed.

Imports

Total oil product imports were up 349 million litres on the month to 3.6 billion litres, led by a sharp rise in diesel to a nine-year high of 2.4 billion litres, as the permanent closure of additional refineries in recent months increased the country’s import dependency.

Australia now operates just two refineries in the states of Queensland and Victoria.

Elsewhere, crude imports were at their lowest levels since December last year at 1.1 billion litres, down 313 million litres on the month.

Much of the increase in products imports in April was from Malaysia, which supplied more than a third of overall diesel volumes.