Oct China Refined Oil Export Volume Surged by 72.52% M-O-M
According to the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics and General Administration of Customs, in October, China’s refined oil apparent consumption volume was 24.58 million mt, down 7.15% M-O-M and down 11.98% Y-O-Y. The major reason contributed to the slump was the surge of refined oil export volume. In October, China’s refined oil output inched up by 0.52% M-O-M, while the refined oil export volume increased dramatically by 72.52% M-O-M.
SCI reckons that there were three factors resulting in the surge of refined oil export volume.
Frist, China’s refined oil export quotas were surplus. From January to September, China’s total refined oil export volume was 34.23 million mt, down 14.23% Y-O-Y. The used refined oil export quotas from January to September only accounted for 58.01% of the total quotas in 2020. Therefore, China’s refineries were promoting their refined oil exports.
Second, from January to September, due to multiple bearish factors including the public health event and the postpone of enterprises’ operation restart, China’s refined oil output declined significantly to 245.376 million mt, down 7.9% Y-O-Y. China’s refined oil consumption was seriously impacted as well, and the oversupply in the refined oil market intensified. The social refined oil inventory remained at over 70% for a long period. In order to ease the oversupply in China’s domestics market, China’s export volume of refined oil began to grow rapidly from Q3, 2020. In October, China’s gasoline export volume was 1.91 million mt, up 63.25% M-O-M, while China’s diesel export volume was 2.17 million mt, up 82.35% M-O-M. In addition, China’s kerosene export volume was 0.44 million mt, up 69.23% M-O-M.
