BEIJING/NEW YORK/TOKYO China's oil demand has recovered to more than 90% of the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic struck early this year, a surprisingly robust rebound that could be mirrored elsewhere in the third quarter as more countries emerge from lockdowns.
(Repeats story published on Wednesday with no changes to text) By Chen Aizhu and Muyu Xu SINGAPORE/BEIJING, May 27 China's low-sulphur marine fuel exports rose by a third in April compared with March to the highest level yet after it waived export taxes for domestic refiners to meet shipping demand, Chinese customs data showed. Chinese refiners began exporting in January very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% to comply with emission rules for ships from the International Maritime Organization. Data from China's General Administration of Customs showed April exports of the ship fuel reached nearly 1.43 million tonnes, up from 1.07 million tonnes in March and just below a combined 1.56 million tonnes for the first two months. Exports in the first four months reached just over 4 million tonnes, the data showed. As the world's second largest economy, emerged from the coronavirus pandemic, China's exports of all goods rebounded, although global recession overshadows the demand recovery. China, which has been striving to reduce its reliance on bunker fuel imports and create its own marine fuel hub to supply northern Asia, has not explained how it collects its marine fuel export data. Beijing-based traders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China records its bunker fuel exports by tracking Chinese refiners' bunker sales from bonded storage at major Chinese ports, such as Zhoushan and Qingdao in east China and Dalian in the northeast. The average price of VLSFO in China was $234 in April, on a par with $236 in Singapore, Asia's bunker fuel hub, one of the traders said. Analysts expect Chinese refiners to price their supplies at discount to Singapore to try to win a bigger share of the international market. So far the impact is muted. "Compared to Singapore, the competitively priced VLSFO among main Chinese ports might have attracted more business," Mia Geng, analyst at FGE in Singapore, said. Beijing has allowed only four state refiners - Sinopec Group, CNPC, China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and Sinochem Group - as well as private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) to export VLSFO, managed under a quota system. Chinese consultancy JLC Network Technology estimated these refiners produced 1.46 million tonnes of VLSFO in the first quarter. As China's production grows, imports are expected to fall. Imports from countries such as Singapore and South Korea into China's bonded storages totalled 4.3 million tonnes in the first four months, down 10.7% from a year earlier, customs data showed. Separately, China imported 470,000 tonnes of fuel oil under the "general trade" category, in the first four months, the data showed. The oil has been purchased by petrochemical plants as feedstock, traders said. The table below shows China's fuel oil import and exports. Volumes are in tonnes. Exports Bonded storage Processing or Monthly Year-To-Date trade tolling total Jan-Feb 1,560,681 -- 1,560,681 1,560,681 March 1,068,789 -- 1,068,789 2,629,470 April 1,425,085 8,100 1,433,185 4,062,655 Imports General trade Bonded storage Monthly Year-to-date trade total Jan-Feb 199,770 2,516,123 2,716,957 2,716,957 March 208,462 747,236 955,698 3,672,655 April 67,657 1,029,406 1,097,063 4,769,718 (Reporting by Chen Aizhu in Singapore and Muyu Xu in Beijing; editing by Florence Tan and Barbara Lewis)
(add analyst quotes) By Chen Aizhu and Muyu Xu SINGAPORE/BEIJING , May 27 China's low-sulphur marine fuel exports rose by a third in April compared with March to the highest level yet after it waived export taxes for domestic refiners to meet shipping demand, Chinese customs data showed. Chinese refiners began exporting in January very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% to comply with emission rules for ships from the International Maritime Organization. Data from China's General Administration of Customs showed April exports of the ship fuel reached nearly 1.43 million tonnes, up from 1.07 million tonnes in March and just below a combined 1.56 million tonnes for the first two months. Exports in the first four months reached just over 4 million tonnes, the data showed. As the world's second largest economy, emerged from the coronavirus pandemic, China's exports of all goods rebounded, although global recession overshadows the demand recovery. China, which has been striving to reduce its reliance on bunker fuel imports and create its own marine fuel hub to supply northern Asia, has not explained how it collects its marine fuel export data. Beijing-based traders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China records its bunker fuel exports by tracking Chinese refiners' bunker sales from bonded storage at major Chinese ports, such as Zhoushan and Qingdao in east China and Dalian in the northeast. The average price of VLSFO in China was $234 in April, on a par with $236 in Singapore, Asia's bunker fuel hub, one of the traders said. Analysts expect Chinese refiners to price their supplies at discount to Singapore to try to win a bigger share of the international market. So far the impact is muted. "Compared to Singapore, the competitively priced VLSFO among main Chinese ports might have attracted more business," Mia Geng, analyst at FGE in Singapore, said. Beijing has allowed only four state refiners - Sinopec Group, CNPC, China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and Sinochem Group - as well as private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) to export VLSFO, managed under a quota system. Chinese consultancy JLC Network Technology estimated these refiners produced 1.46 million tonnes of VLSFO in the first quarter. As China's production grows, imports are expected to fall. Imports from countries such as Singapore and South Korea into China's bonded storages totalled 4.3 million tonnes in the first four months, down 10.7% from a year earlier, customs data showed. Separately, China imported 470,000 tonnes of fuel oil under the "general trade" category, in the first four months, the data showed. The oil has been purchased by petrochemical plants as feedstock, traders said. The table below shows China's fuel oil import and exports. Volumes are in tonnes. Exports Bonded storage Processing or Monthly Year-To-Date trade tolling total Jan-Feb 1,560,681 -- 1,560,681 1,560,681 March 1,068,789 -- 1,068,789 2,629,470 April 1,425,085 8,100 1,433,185 4,062,655 Imports General trade Bonded storage Monthly Year-to-date trade total Jan-Feb 199,770 2,516,123 2,716,957 2,716,957 March 208,462 747,236 955,698 3,672,655 April 67,657 1,029,406 1,097,063 4,769,718 (Reporting by Chen Aizhu in Singapore and Muyu Xu in Beijing; editing by Florence Tan and Barbara Lewis)
BEIJING/SINGAPORE A vice governor in China's northeastern Liaoning province appealed to the central government to shut down Dalian Petrochemical Corp, at the annual national parliament conference (NPC), according to an NPC report issued on Monday.
BEIJING China said on Friday it will bolster the capacity of the country's energy reserves and offer lower gas and electricity charges to key industries, as it looks to ensure energy supply and offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
BEIJING, May 22 China said on Friday it will bolster the capacity of the country's energy reserves and offer lower gas and electricity charges to key industries, as it looks to ensure energy supply and offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
BEIJING China said on Friday it will continue to strengthen anti-pollution controls and meet its environmental targets for 2020, but warned that the coronavirus pandemic would weigh on energy intensity goals.
* No sign of China to single out Australian coal imports -analysts
* No sign of China to single out Australian coal imports -analysts
BEIJING Researchers at an energy think tank affiliated with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) are calling for the reform of China's fuel pricing system by removing the floor price or allowing state companies to spend the money to boost oil output.
U.S. protesters ignored curfews overnight as they vented their anger over the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of police, but there was a marked drop in the violence that led President Donald Trump to threaten to deploy the military.