China's August gasoline exports down 44% on weak refinery output, export margins
Sept 18 (Reuters) -China's gasoline exports were down 44% in August from a year earlier while those of diesel fell 29.7%, customs data showed on Wednesday, due to lower refinery output and softening export margins.
Gasoline exports were at 770,000 metric tons last month, the lowest since April. That was off steeply from 1.38 million tons in August 2023 and also down from 790,000 tons in July, data from the General Administration of Customs data showed.
Diesel exports were at 880,000 tons last month, down sharply from 1.26 million tons a year earlier but up from July's 540,000 tons.
China's total refined fuel exports in August - including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and marine fuel - dropped 16.5% year-on-year to 4.92 million tons, the lowest since April.
Last month's Chinese refinery throughput fell year-on-year for a fifth month in a row, as a sluggish economy weighed on diesel demand and accelerating sales of electric vehicles ate into gasoline use.
Jet fuel exports remained the highest among the three products thanks to the continued recovery in international travel, with volumes reaching 1.56 million tons, steady from last year's1.55 million tons but down from 1.76 million tons in July.
Fuel provided to international flights is considered an export in customs statistics.
Dataalso showed China's imports of liquefied natural gas at 6.54 million tons in August, up 5.1% on year, boosting the year-to-date volumes by10.7% to 50.29 million tons.
Below are details of the fuel exports and LNG imports, with volumes in metric tons.
Exports | August | y/y % change | YTD | y/y % change |
Gasoline | 770,000 | -44 | 6,480,000 | -26.1 |
Jet fuel | 1,560,000 | 0.4 | 12,970,000 | 33 |
Diesel | 880,000 | -29.7 | 6,720,000 | -30.6 |
Imports | y/y % change | YTD | y/y % change | |
LNG | 6,540,000 | 5.1 | 50,290,000 | 10.7 |
Reporting by Colleen Howe in Beijing and Chen Aizhu in Singapore; Editing by Eileen Soreng
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
