Malaysia's kerosene and fuel oil production cut to the bone

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Production of refined products in Malaysia in February was 12% lower year-on-year at 2.46 million mt, with the largest drops in relative terms coming for kerosene and fuel oil, government data showed.

Meanwhile, the amount of liquified natural gas (LNG) produced was up 3.5% on the year at 2.57 million mt, according to the country's Department of Statistics.

Demand for Kerosene has been badly affected by the crash in global airline passenger numbers due to Covid-19 measures which started in earnest in April last year and Malaysia's kerosene output reflects that with a sharp drop off from Q2 2020.

The February figure of 293,055 mt was 22.1% down compared with the same month last year and was also 11.8% lower compared with January this year, which is typically the peak month for output in Malaysia.

Fuel oil production was 190,326 mt for February this year, a decrease of 30.8% on the year but a 14.6% gain on the prior month and was also the highest monthly figure for the product since March last year.

Road transport fuels diesel and gasoline saw single figure percentage drops of 8.3% and 4.5% respectively, to 1.1 million mt and 506,710 mt. However, these were also the highest monthly amounts since March 2020.

LPG and naphtha were 14.5% and 9.3% lower year-on-year at 203,909 mt and 343,233 mt respectively.