Asia buys up African, Brazilian oil as shipping costs fall
Asian buyers have been snapping up Atlantic Basin crude at lower prices after tanker freight rates on cargoes from Africa and Brazil slumped from all-time highs, traders, shipbrokers and analysts said...
Asia has been actively purchasing crude oil from Africa and Brazil as shipping costs have decreased, according to industry sources. Major refiners, such as Sinopec and SK Energy, have chartered tankers to load West African crude at lower rates. Unipec, a trading arm of Sinopec, recently purchased Congolese Djeno crude at a discount compared to Brent crude.
The Chinese refiner has also provisionally chartered tankers to load West African crude for Asian markets. Analysts attribute the lower shipping costs to improved vessel availability due to a decrease in tanker freight rates from their all-time highs. This trend is driven by Chinese refiners' shift to non-sanctioned oil and their efforts to utilize import quotas before year-end.
Despite this, Asian refiners have recently held back purchases due to high costs, resulting in a decline in spot prices.
Written by urgent.news from Gulf Times Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
