East China port tankage is structurally tight: aggregate commercial storage utilization across Qingdao, Ningbo, and Yangshan stands at 92.3%, with asphalt-dedicated tanks at 96.7% — exceeding the 5-year average of 83.1% (industry benchmark). This is not price-driven hoarding. Asphalt futures plunged 3.50% to ¥5,013/t, yet physical intake remains elevated — Shandong refiners have raised Q4 asphalt output plans by 18% YoY, while Guangdong/Hainan terminal demand is delayed by typhoon season, forcing East China to absorb the flow as a de facto transit buffer. Tankage strain directly lifts demurrage: Ningbo Port’s average demurrage for 30,000-ton asphalt barges hit ¥3,650/day today, up 21% from September’s average — the highest since Q3 2025. Fuel oil futures edged up 0.36% to ¥4,434/t, not on demand strength but on deteriorating regional logistics economics. SNSUC’s transshipment desk measured the all-in cost (freight + handling + tank rental) for a 5,000-ton barge from Ningbo to Shanghai at ¥423/t — breaching the prior arbitrage threshold of ¥420/t. This signals a material rise in the physical friction cost of inter-port inventory rebalancing. Critically, this is not transient: USD/CNY held flat at 6.7050, but USD/JPY surged 0.31% to 157.89, prompting Japanese shipping lines to announce Q4 BAF hikes on East China routes effective mid-October. For SNSUC clients, two implications follow: First, holders of ESPO or Urals warehouse receipts planning delivery in East China must secure tank slots before October 5 — otherwise demurrage will erode >3.2% gross margin (calculated against Brent at $98.37). Second, the fuel oil–asphalt spread narrowed to ¥579/t (¥4,434 vs ¥5,013), but rising transport costs invalidate the classic ‘buy-low, sell-high-across-zones’ arbitrage. We maintain ‘neutral’, with upside trigger at East China tank utilization falling below 88% or demurrage dropping under ¥3,200/day.