Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest gasoline importer, reduced purchases of the fuel as the country stepped up efforts to narrow current account deficit by curbing refined products imports. Data from Statistics Indonesia showed that gasoline imports in August fell to an 11-month low at 1.095 million tons, marking the second straight monthly decline.
Imports of 90 RON gasoline grades and below in August were 670,620 tons, declining 5.31% from the previous month. Meanwhile, imports of grades between 90 to 97 RON increased to 424,100 tons, 6.54% higher than the prior month.
TPPI refinery in Tuban, East Java, has reportedly shifted production from petrochemicals to gasoline since August, which may explain the overall decline in Indonesia’s total gasoline imports. In line with lower demand from Indonesia, the FOB Singapore 92 RON gasoline crack against front-month ICE Brent crude futures dropped sharply from $8.56/barrel average in August last year to $6.55/barrel in August 2019.
