Trading places in Asia
Asia is changing. In terms of new facilities and expansions, nowhere has been busier than Singapore. But now, with full capacity looming and petroleum sector deregulation being the watchword, surrounding countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are changing the shape of the Asia storage map.
The sustained investment in Asia storage facilities, most evidently in Singapore, is firm evidence of the importance of the region to global petroleum and petrochemical trade.
At the same time, trading outfits, looking for leverage in a continually volatile market, are muscling in on the traditional independents, and bringing with them the possibility of a higher level of secrecy to the market, coupled with the potential for higher, wider-ranging storage fees.
The region's development
has been buoyed by a
number of clear factors.
Firstly, rising global demand
for refined products and high
refinery use has lead to
strained refining capacity in
the world's main refining
centres, improving the
economics of inter-regional
product transfer. The price
differentials that result from
such movement, and the risk
management opportunities
that go with it, have
attracted trading companies
to the market, keen to
maximise profits from
moving and holding onto
product as prices rise.
Another highly significant
political driver of the Asian
market is the deregulation
effort underway in the
energy sector in a number
of countries, and opening
the doors to new retail
chains. Retail entrants need
reliable storage and
independents are now taking
the opportunity to meet this
burgeoning demand.
