SINGAPORE, March 14 (Reuters) - Asian gasoil margins slipped on Thursday despite Vietnam's top fuel importer emerging in the international market to import gasoil for the second quarter, as volumes sought are much lower than the same period last year, industry sources said. The April gasoil crack slipped 32 cents to $18.65 a barrel on Thursday, the lowest since last November, Reuters data showed. Vietnam's Petrolimex issued its first quarterly import tender for 39,000 tonnes of gasoil after skipping it for three consecutive quarters due to sufficient stocks and weaker domestic demand. But volumes for the second quarter of the year are still much lower than the 179,000 tonnes it sought for the same period last year. The lower demand from Vietnam is expected to depress margins further though some support could be seen in the near future with Petrolimex expected to seek more gasoil volumes for re-export to neighbouring Cambodia. Separately, the company bought 35,000 tonnes of 500 ppm sulphur gasoil for April 4 to 14 loading from Taiwan at a discount of about 30 cents a barrel, similar to a March cargo sold earlier, sources said. Singapore onshore gasoil and jet fuel stocks gained for the first time in three weeks, rising 6.4 percent to 10 million barrels, IE data showed. Diesel imports from South Korea jumped by about 80 percent to about 115,000 tonnes, as arbitrage economics to send the barrels west are not profitable. Indonesia exported a rare diesel cargo to Singapore last week, indicating that domestic demand in the country has dropped drastically, as it is usually a net importer. The country's top importer Pertamina has been deferring term imports of large volumes of gasoil cargoes to later months due to the lower demand, industry sources said. In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has offered either a 10 ppm sulphur diesel or 500 ppm sulphur gasoil cargo, after returning from a planned maintenance in the first quarter. With arbitrage economics not workable to send the cargoes to Europe, Middle East premiums are expected to come under pressure in the coming weeks, before demand picks up again for summer, traders said. For jet fuel, India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Corp (MRPL) has offered its third cargo for April, one additional cargo from March, which could cap rising premiums for the oil product, sources added. * TENDERS: MRPL has offered 40,000 tonnes of jet fuel for April 22 to 24 loading from New Mangalore. The tender closes on March 20 and is valid until March 21. - ADNOC has offered an option of either 65,000 tonnes of 500 ppm sulphur gasoil for loading from Ruwais over April 13 to 15 or 40,000 tonnes of 10 ppm sulphur diesel for loading over April 18 to 20. The tender closes on March 20 and is valid until March 25. - Petrolimex is seeking 5,500 tonnes each of high sulphur gasoil for loading over April 10 to 16 and June 10 to 16; and 7,000 tonnes each for loading over May 1 to 7, May 20 to 26, July 1 to 7 and July 20 to 26. The 0.25 percent sulphur gasoil cargoes are for loading from either Thailand or Singapore. The tender closes on March 15 and is valid until March 19. * SINGAPORE CASH DEALS: No deals reported.
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