China's July fuel oil imports fall for third straight month
SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) -China's fuel oil imports fell for a third consecutive month in July, customs data showed on Tuesday.
July imports totalled 1.38 million metric tons (about 282,000 barrels per day), 8% lower than in June and 9% down from a year earlier, according to General Administration of Customs data.
Relatively strong cracks for high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) continued to cap buying interest from Chinese refiners, industry sources say.
Prompt-month cracks for 380-cst HSFO FO380DUBCKMc1 climbed to a two-month high at the end of July, based on data from LSEG.
The import volumes included purchases under ordinary trade, which are subject to import duty and consumption tax, as well as imports into bonded storage.
Meanwhile, fuel oil export volumes for bunkering totalled 1.66 million tons in July, up 5% from June and 8% higher than in the corresponding month last year.
The trend was largely in line with improved bunker demand at key hubs such as Singapore and Fujairah in July.
The exports are measured mostly by sales from bonded storage for vessels plying international routes.
The tables below show China's fuel oil exports and imports in metric tons. The exports section largely captures China's low sulphur oil bunkering sales along its coast.
Exports (2024) | Bonded storage trade | m/m % change | y/y % change |
January | 1,674,002 | 11% | 33% |
February | 1,173,447 | -30% | -24% |
March | 1,315,242 | 12% | -32% |
April | 1,636,457 | 24% | 20% |
May | 1,660,323 | 1% | -10% |
June | 1,586,814 | -4% | -18% |
July * | 1,664,325 | 5% | 8% |
Imports (2024) | Ordinary trade | Bonded storage trade | Total | m/m % change | y/y % change |
January | 737,451 | 1,414,318 | 2,151,769 | 5% | 78% |
February | 599,867 | 842,089 | 1,441,956 | -33% | -18% |
March | 727,674 | 1,250,129 | 1,977,803 | 37% | -19% |
April | 725,664 | 2,207,164 | 2,932,828 | 48% | 10% |
May | 592,343 | 1,561,447 | 2,153,790 | -27% | -19% |
June | 498,481 | 991,808 | 1,490,289 | -31% | -45% |
July * | 587,226 | 789,259 | 1,376,485 | -8% | -9% |
(Figures are based on latest available data at the time of publishing, and may be subject to revision by China customs at a later date)
(1 metric ton = 6.35 barrels for fuel oil conversion)
Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
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