French restocking following a three-week long strike at refineries and terminals was the main source of demand, mostly in the western Mediterranean, traders said.
Outside France, buying remained particularly low, traders said, with some attributing the slowdown to uncertainty over the outcome of the Brexit vote.
Barge traffic along the upper Rhine river was set to resume in the coming days as water levels decrease, but rain forecasts for later this week could once again lead to closures, traders and barge operators said.
Around 1.9 million tonnes of diesel were expected to be imported from Asia and the Middle East to Europe in June and another 1.3 million tonnes from the US Gulf Coast, according to Reuters shipping data and traders.
US distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 151,000 barrels, versus expectations for a 257,000-barrel increase.
The chief executive of Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, said on Wednesday he saw oil prices rising moderately by year-end due to supply outages around the globe and strong demand.
China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) has exported a 35,000-tonne cargo of diesel meeting Australian specifications for the fuel, the first shipment of its kind, a statement by the state assets regulator showed on Wednesday. GASOIL
No barges of 0.1 percent sulphur gasoil traded. No barges of 50 ppm gasoil traded.
The July Low Sulphur Gasoil futures traded $1.50 lower at $444.50 a tonne at 1535 GMT.
The July contract traded in a contango of $2.75 a tonne to the August contract, unchanged from a day earlier.
The diesel refining margin fell slightly to $10.16 a barrel from around $10.20 a barrel.
DIESEL
Fifteen barges traded at discounts of $2.50-$3.25 a tonne fob ARA to July diesel futures, compared with discounts of $2-$2.50 a tonne in the previous session.
Litasco, Glencore and Rolympus sold to Star Fuels, BP, Total and Vitol.
No cargoes traded.
JET FUEL
Lufthansa sold a barge to Shell at a discount of $14 a tonne premium to the July diesel futures contract, down from $16 a tonne.
No cargoes traded.
FUEL OIL
Barges with a sulphur content of 3.5 percent fuel oil traded at $228.75 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $224-$225.75 a tonne.