COMMODITY
India's refined fuel exports rise 24.2% in December
Jan-24-2020

The petroleum ministry data has showed that India's refined fuel exports rose 24.2% in December year-on-year to 6.46 million tonnes, the fastest growth since October 2016, as a broader economic slowdown dented local demand.

India recently revised down its growth forecast for fuel consumption - a proxy for oil demand - to a six-year low of 1.3% in 2019-20, mainly due to a fall in estimated diesel consumption. Diesel consumption is directly linked to industrial activity. The country imports and exports refined fuels, as it holds a surplus refining capacity. But slowing local demand is pushing up its exports and they rose for a fourth straight month in December from a year earlier.

As per the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) data, of the 6.46 million tonnes of exports in December, shipments of diesel had the lion's share, rising 38.2% to 3.14 million tonnes. Domestic sales of diesel are expected to grow at the slowest pace in five years in 2019/20 as the country's car fleet shifts predominantly to gasoline, trucks get more efficient and solar pumps displace diesel-fed units across the countryside.

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