KARACHI: Total POL sales declined by 7 percent on month-on-month basis to 1.55 million tons in August 2020 as demand for motor spirit (MS) and high speed diesel (HSD) dipped by 3 percent and 25 percent, respectively. On the other hand, heightened demand for electricity pushed up sales of furnace oil (FO) by 31 percent on MoM during August 2020.
Company wise performance was not dissimilar to the industry trend as all companies saw declines of varying degrees in retail fuels. More specifically, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) fared relatively better than its peers, posting a 7 percent MoM decline in volumes as a substantial 63 percent increase in FO sales cushioned the overall impact. On the other end of the spectrum was Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) that experienced a 23 percent fall in total sales with volumetric declines seen across all three major products.
"The depressed sales during August 2020 can partially be attributed to the recent torrential downpours and Eid holidays at the beginning of the month", Ali H. Zaidi, an analyst at JS Global Capital said. "However, we expect volumetric sales to resume an upward trend going forward", he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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