China's July diesel exports hit 10-month low as refiners run out of export quotas
China's diesel exports in July plunged 41% from a month ago as refiners neared the end of the first batch of 2021 refined fuel export quotas, while a drop-off in domestic fuel supplies encouraged refiners to prioritise local demand.
Diesel shipments were 1.39 million tonnes last month, hitting the lowest level since September 2020, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday. That was down from 2.36 million tonnes in June but still well above 550,000 tonnes in July last year.
Gasoline exports in July also plunged 49% from a month earlier to only 740,000 tonnes, the lowest point in 14 months.
Jet kerosene exports were 660,000 tonnes in July.
China granted 29.5 million tonnes of refined fuel products export quotas in the first batch for 2021. In the first six months, the country sold 26.29 million tonnes of diesel, gasoline and jet kerosene to overseas market.
Meanwhile, Beijing from mid-June imposed hefty taxes on imports of light cycle oil (LCO), mixed aromatics and diluted bitumen, aiming to curb imports it blames for worsening a fuel surplus and polluting the environment.
China's daily crude throuhgput last month fell to the lowest since May 2020.
Last week, China slashed export quotas for refined fuels for the second batch of quotas issued for 2021 by 73% year-on-year to 7.5 million tonnes, pointing to low fuel exports in coming months.
The customs data on Wednesday also showed China's liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports in July were 5.67 million tonnes, up 14% from a year earlier, buoyed by increasing demand from industrial and power generation sectors.
(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Chen Aizhu; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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