SOUTH AFRICA DATA: Q1 products demand drops, diesel bucks trend

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - South African oil product deliveries fell 3% in the three months to March 2021, data from the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy showed Monday, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to wreak havoc in the country.

Total oil demand reached 6.14 billion litres in Q1 2021, down from 6.36 billion litres in Q4 2020. Demand was also down 7% versus the first quarter of 2020, which was marked by the beginning of the pandemic.

Compared to the pre-pandemic Q1 2019 figure, total demand was down 12.9%.

Gasoline sales reached 2.28 billion litres in the first quarter, down a significant 10% from the previous quarter and down 16.8% from the same quarter in 2019.

Jet deliveries also declined 8% on the quarter to 0.24 billion litres, which was down 59.3% from the first quarter in both 2020 and 2019.

Deliveries of diesel - the most used fuel by volume - rose 2% during the quarter to 3.23 billion litres, but this was not enough to offset declines in other oil products.

Diesel was also the only fuel type to see consumption versus 1Q20 rise but usage remained 4.2% lower than in 2019.

The Covid-19 Beta variant, first detected in the Nelson Mandela Bay area of the Eastern Cape province, spread fast during the quarter, with more than 20,000 new cases per day reported at the end of January.

As a result, President Cyrill Ramaphosa announced a new lockdown at the end of March.