Summer demand from south and southeast Asia, coupled with refinery run cuts due to scheduled maintenance at secondary units had given the market unexpected support.
More importantly, refiners having previously focused heavily on maximising production of light distillates had also shaved off some of the diesel excess.
But the tide could change from August as some refiners have already changed course and returned to producing more middle distillates in view of its stronger margins compared to light fuels, such as naphtha, which have been very weak compared to the start of the year.
China's diesel exports were also not expected to contract anytime soon as it sought to decrease its domestic stockpiles.
Beijing has allowed refiners to export an additional million tonnes this year, bringing the total to over 16 million tonnes.
The government decides how much refiners will export in a year and the quota is given in batches, with four batches given during a calendar year.
Last year, China allowed its refiners to export about 9 million tonnes of diesel, although final numbers from official data showed that its actual exports were lower at 7.2 million tonnes or a monthly average of 600,000 tonnes.
For the first five months of this year, China has already exported a monthly average of about 1.1 million tonnes.
TENDERS: Pakistan was seeking 10,000 tonnes of jet fuel for Sept. 25 to Oct. 15 delivery through a tender closing on Aug. 2.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS: There were three jet fuel deals between seller Hin Leong and buyer BP, but no trades on gasoil.
Hin Leong sold two 110,000-barrel jet fuel cargoes for July 19-23 loading to BP at a discount of 10 cents a barrel and another 115,000 barrels of the fuel for July 22-26 loading to BP at a discount of 45 cents a barrel.