ARA: sighs of relief from European oil-storage operators

Some sectors of the independent oil-storage business at the big ARA ports have felt the effects of the world's economic troubles, but structural changes have helped to maintain utilisation rates, Martin Quinlan writes

INDEPENDENT storage operators in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) area have been keen to shift their user-base from trading operations to supply chain logistics. The aim has been to avoid the boom-and-bust swings of the trade pendulum, while linking-in to growth in refined products demand. Last year's falls in demand for oil products in the world's largest economies have, accordingly, brought testing conditions to some parts of the business – although, overall, the statistics say that volumes moving through ARA have increased. Demand for tank-space has also been lifted by strong contangoes (futures prices higher than prompt prices) in refined products, which have given supply chain u