Small ULSD volume left for delivery after May LSG expires

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - May Low Sulfur Gasoil futures expired on the ICE exchange Wednesday to leave just 1,319 lots of open interest, or 131,190 mt of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) for delivery in ARA this month, the lowest expiry volume since December, data from ICE shows.  

Distillate cracks in Europe have been improving in May, although from a low base, and the nearby structure has stayed in mild contango.

ULSD barges in ARA were still trading at small discounts to the May contract on Tuesday.

With Brent in backwardation, cracks for ULSD barges in ARA versus Brent jump from around $6.15/b for spot prices currently to $8.60/b for October paper, Quantum data shows.