Asia Gasoline-Indonesian 88-octane October imports seen 10.5 pct lower
SINGAPORE, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia, Asia's top gasoline importer, is expected to import about 8.5 million barrels of 88-octane gasoline for October, down 10.5 percent from September, estimates from traders showed on Wednesday.
Pertamina, the state-owned company, has this week concluded its fourth quarter deal for the 88-octane grade with sellers at a premium of about 8 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
"I do not see any bull factor in the gasoline market. Everyone relies on Pertamina's imports but we cannot expect a spike from them," said a trader.
Peak demand season in Indonesia came to an end after its Muslim fasting month ended in August.
Demand from Vietnam, Asia's second-largest gasoline importer, was also not looking up due to sufficient supplies from its domestic refinery and yearly contracts.
These have weighed heavily on the Asian gasoline margin, which was at a 21-month low of $1.24 a barrel on Tuesday. (Reporting by Seng Li Peng; Editing by Supriya Kurane)
