The South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA) says that diesel and petrol stock availability is improving after the country reduced refining capacity during its lockdown.<\/p>\n
The group said in a statement<\/a> <\/strong>on Friday (12 June), that its members are building stock since the lowering of the lockdown alert levels and the recent price changes.<\/p>\n “Product imports have arrived at the port of Durban and pipeline deliveries have resumed.<\/p>\n “These products will reach the inland market within 7 to 14 days which is the lead time from Durban to Gauteng by pipeline.<\/p>\n “During this time, supply is expected to stabilise across the country as more refineries are online and producing fuel. The pipeline is also operational following stoppages due to theft incidents.”<\/p>\n At the end of May, Bloomberg<\/a> <\/strong>reported that about 30% of the country’s refining capacity idled because of a drop in demand, spurred by the Covid-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n Sasol and Total SA shut the Natref refinery in April after the government restricted economic activity to curb the spread of coronavirus. The measures also extended a planned shutdown by the Glencore-owned Astron Energy Cape Town refinery.<\/p>\n The plants comprise almost a third of the nation\u2019s nameplate fuel-making capacity of over 700,000 barrels a day.<\/p>\n Sapia said that some of the lockdown measures being eased created a \u201cdramatic increase\u201d in demand for diesel, resulting in rationing of the fuel.<\/p>\n More than half of the country\u2019s capacity had been shut due to the lockdown as well as unplanned outages.<\/p>\n