Cyprus Business Now

Total petroleum product sales in Cyprus experienced a slight drop in July, with sales from gas station pumps falling for the second month in a row, according to a report released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

According to the data, total sales of petroleum products in July reached 115,926 tons, a decrease of 0.7 per cent compared to July 2021.

A decrease was recorded in the sales of light (-38.7 per cent) and heavy (-12.8 per cent) fuel, asphalt (-22.2 per cent), gasoline (-11.5 per cent) and diesel (-11.3 per cent).

Conversely, there was an increase in oil supplies to aeroplanes (60.3 per cent) and ships (37.9 per cent), as well as sales of kerosene (57.4 per cent) and heating oil (8.9 per cent).

As for sales from petrol stations, these fell by 13.3 per cent, dropping to 51,868 tons.

This is the second straight month of decline after a 6.8 per cent year-on-year fall, amid an earlier sharp rise in international fuel prices in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

Furthermore, the total sales of petroleum products during the month of July 2022 compared to June 2022 marked a drop of 8.2 per cent.

The supplies of oil to aeroplanes increased by 2.7 per cent, while sales of gasoline and diesel decreased by 2.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively.

Total oil inventories at the end of July 2022 increased by 2.2 per cent compared to the end of the previous month.

Between January and July 2022, the total sales of petroleum products in Cyprus increased by 18.6 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The economic sentiment in Cyprus worsened in August, falling to a 17-month low, with the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) falling by 4.5 points compared with July 2022.

The deterioration in the ESI-CypERC has been attributed to weaker business confidence in services, lower consumer confidence, as well as poorer economic confidence in the construction sector.

“The Services Confidence Indicator decreased as firms assessed their past performance less favourably and revised their turnover expectations downwards,” the Economic Research Centre of the University of Cyprus said in a statement.

Conversely, the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator remained unchanged, since companies’ assessments of current stock levels improved, while companies’ views on past and future sales worsened.

The fall in the Construction Confidence Indicator has been primarily attributed to downward revisions in employment expectations.

The Industry Confidence Indicator remained at the same level observed in July, with all the components that contribute to the determination of the indicator remaining relatively stable.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator experienced a slight decline, mainly due to consumers’ weaker intentions of making major purchases over the coming months.

Moreover, economic uncertainty in Cyprus in August fell as a result of lower uncertainty in the services and construction sectors, as well as among consumers.

Finally, uncertainty among companies operating in retail trade increased, while uncertainty among industrial companies remained generally unchanged.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, August 30 with losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 72.44 points at 13:09 during the day, reflecting a drop of 0.45 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 43.43 points, which represents a decrease of 0.46 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €46,116.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative and hotel indexes fell by 0.64 per cent, 0.06 per cent and 0.69 per cent respectively, while the investment firm index remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (-0.79 per cent), Logicom (-1.72 per cent), Hellenic Bank (-0.44 per cent), Demetra Holdings (no change) and Leptos Calypso Hotels (-8.7 per cent).