KEY POINTS
- China’s July refined fuel exports fell 12.9 percent on the year but rose 6.7 percent from June to 4.65 million tons.
- Beijing eased wartime export curbs in July and August, approving enough shipments to exceed pre-war levels.
- Diesel exports jumped 88 percent from June, while LNG imports rose 2.4 percent year on year to 5.5 million tons.
China’s exports of refined oil products edged back toward pre-war levels in July, after Beijing eased the curbs it imposed during the Iran war.
Refined product exports fell 12.9 percent from a year earlier but rose 6.7 percent from June, to 4.65 million metric tons, customs data showed on Tuesday. Moreover, the easing let refiners under margin pressure ship more fuel overseas, building on a 29 percent jump in June from May.
Why the curbs eased
China, a key fuel supplier to Asia, cut exports sharply in March to shield its home market from the oil shock that followed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. However, Beijing relaxed those controls in July and again in August, when officials approved enough shipments to top pre-war volumes.
Furthermore, the recovery matters beyond fuel. Rising exports give refiners an incentive to lift output because overseas prices sit higher, and that in turn should help normalise China’s crude imports, which remain well below pre-war levels. Consequently, stronger fuel sales could pull the wider oil market along with them.
Diesel leads, other fuels catch up
Diesel drove the rebound, climbing 88 percent from June to 810,000 tons, roughly back to last July’s level and about 50 percent above last year’s monthly average. Still, other fuels stayed below pre-war marks even as they recovered. Gasoline exports reached 420,000 tons, down 55.3 percent on the year but up 320 percent from June, while aviation fuel rose 42 percent from June to 1.32 million tons though it fell 33 percent on the year.
Meanwhile, the trade in gas told a mixed story. China’s liquefied natural gas imports rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier to 5.5 million tons in July. Therefore, the monthly gain masked a weaker trend, since LNG imports over the first seven months still fell 4.6 percent from a year earlier.
