Asian refiners’ dilemma deepens with bolstering crude prices and tanker rates
- Tanker rates have risen sharply, even for charters from non-Middle East countries, building on refiners’ costs as crude prices continue their upward trajectory
- Diversification has been a backup strategy for some states at the expense of commercial priorities
- Other refiners are prioritising supply chain reliability above costs, with margin optimisation taking a backseat
- Effective outage of flows from Yanbu to Asia, along with China’s return to crude imports, have added to margin concerns
Asian economies must balance costs with their own crude requirements as options thin, with no end in sight for the Middle East crisis
