In September, China’s diesel exports surged to their highest numbers in more than a year and aviation fuel shipments also reached a 29-month peak as refiners rushed to cash in on robust export margins, data showed on Monday, October 24.
Exports of diesel fuel for September more than doubled from a year earlier to reach 1.73 MMt, the highest monthly rate since July 2021, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
That was up from 830,000 tonnes in August and 780,000 tonnes a year ago. Exports of aviation fuel, including refuelling at Chinese airports for airlines plying international routes, jumped by 38.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.23 MMt in September – the highest monthly volume since April 2020.
Data from air traffic tracking specialist VariFlight showed total passenger flight turnover for September including departures and landings amounted to 369,536 trips, which was 36.5 percent lower than August and 42 percent below September 2021.
September’s gasoline exports were 660,000 tonnes, down 28.3 percent from a year earlier and also down 41 percent from August, the data showed. China maintained broad curbs on fuel exports earlier this year, resulting in total fuel exports in the first nine months of 2022 falling 28 percent from a year earlier.
But in an about-turn in fuel trade policy, in late September Beijing released an additional large batch of 15 MMt of export quotas, including 13.25 MMt for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, with the remainder for marine fuel. The move was seen as being aimed at helping to bolster exports in the coming months and likely through March of 2023.
Data also showed liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rebounded to 5.9 MMt ahead of the winter heating season, the highest monthly volume since January, though that was 11.6 percent below the year-ago rate. Year-to-date shipments were also down 20 percent from the same period in 2021 at 46.51 MMt, with whole-year imports on track to post the first major decline since China began importing the super-chilled fuel in 2006, as covid restrictions and high global prices blunted Chinese purchases.
On the other hand, Pipeline gas imports in September rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier to 4.25 MMt. Year-to-date imports rose 10.5 percent from a year earlier to 34.66 MMt.
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