India has cancelled orders for multiple cargoes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) only weeks after going on a buying spree as the nation went into lockdown, highlighting the difficulty of assessing fuel demand in a pandemic.
The nation’s three biggest state-owned refiners have negotiated the cancellation of at least five cargoes of the fuel due to arrive in May and June with term suppliers in the West Asia, according to traders and company officials. The processors were left with too much LPG after over-estimating demand and ramping up purchases in late March and early April.
Consumption of transport and industrial fuels plunged after India imposed the worlds biggest national lockdown on March 25, but LPG was resilient as its mainly used for cooking at home.
