China’s crude oil imports rose in August as refining profit margins rebounded

According to Reuters reports from Beijing and Singapore, China Customs Administration (GAC) data show that China’s crude oil imports increased by about 3% in August compared with last month, due to a rebound in refining profits despite persistent excess of petroleum products and tepid demand.

GAC data show that crude oil shipments were 42.17 million tons in August, 41.4 million tons in July and 38.38 million tons in August last year, an increase of 9.9% over the same period last year.

This is equivalent to 9.93 million barrels a day, up from 9.66 million barrels a day in July and the highest level since April.

GAC data show that in the first eight months of 2019, China’s crude oil imports reached 327.8 million tons, or 9.85 million barrels per day, an increase of 9.6% over the same period last year.

In the first half of this year, the profit margin of refineries has recovered to 200 to 300 yuan per ton, but the whole industry is still under pressure due to the supply of petroleum products from Hengli Petrochemical and Zhejiang Petrochemical, the large-scale refineries.

“Private refineries in Shandong are also facing difficulties in obtaining bank credit, and they may not be able to use up their annual oil import quotas,” said Amanda Zhao of JLC Network Technology, a Chinese commodity consultancy, before releasing the data.

GAC data show that China exported 4.08 million tons of petroleum products in August, down from 5.49 million tons in July.

From January to August this year, China exported 42.08 million tons of petroleum products, up from 40.22 million tons in the same period in 2018.

Data also show that China’s total natural gas imports, including LNG and pipeline imports, reached 8.34 million tons in August, up 7.3% from the same period last year, the highest since January and 7.89 million tons in July.