S&P: Asia’s Gasoil Demand to See Further Growth in 2021

S&P: Asia’s Gasoil Demand to See Further Growth in 2021

But industry sources cautioned that a slower than expected rollout of mass vaccination programs, complications arising from the emergence of new strains of the virus, as well as the possibility of continued low product margins, could lead to a bumpy road to recovery.

Industry experts noted that many countries have fallen short of their initial mass vaccination targets, even as local transmission numbers have risen higher. Furthermore, the recent emergence of highly infectious variants of the coronavirus has injected fresh uncertainty into the gasoil demand outlook, sources said.

"The vaccination programs for many countries are falling behind schedule, so while demand for gasoil will surely grow this year, it's more a question of by what extent or quantum this will be," a trader said.

S&P Global Platts Analytics echoed similar sentiments, saying that while the baseline assumption considers that the vaccines' effects on global economic activity will start to become apparent in second half 2021, there were still variables that would impact the pace of recovery.

"Platts Analytics expects Asia's diesel demand, which is estimated to have dropped 2.7% year on year in 2020 to 9.8 million b/d, to bounce back by 3.2% year on year in 2021 as the economy in the region