LONDON: Gasoline tankers are taking longer than usual to discharge in Amsterdam and at least one was diverted from the northwest European port as exports from the trading hub slow.
The STI Hammersmith and the STI Milwaukee each loaded gasoline cargoes in Spain last month to go to Amsterdam but had to wait by up to six days outside the port.
"Six days is longer than average to berth, but it can be a lot worse," one trading source said.
The STI Fontvieille loaded a 35,000 tonne gasoline cargo for BP at the Turkish port of Tutunciftlik on November 24, a shipping report showed, and was calling at Amsterdam, according to Reuters ship tracking.
But on December 10, the destination of the ship changed to Durban, South Africa, for orders, according to ship tracking.
Unusually strong demand for Europe's gasoline from the Middle East, Asia Pacific and China saw shipments rise by 20 percent in October and November to over 3.6 million tonnes.
Middle East buyers in particular looked to stock up on fuel in advance of planned maintenance shutdowns early next year, including at Saudi Arabia's 400,000 barrel per day (bpd) Satorp and Yanbu refineries.
The high export demand buoyed prices in northwest Europe and opened up an arbitrage from the Mediterranean to the region.
But exports to those regions have since cooled off and gasoline profit margins have fallen as a result, traders said. Data from industry monitor Genscape showed gasoline, gasoline blending components and naphtha stocks rising by more than 12 percent in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub in the week to December 1, the latest data available showed.
Elevated stock levels in the United States, particularly in the PADD1 region which covers the East Coast of the country, have made exports from Europe to the region less profitable.
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