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Imports of fuel oil into China fell by approximately 17 percent in February, according to data published by the General Administration of Customs, ICIS reports.

Last month, China imported around 2.34 million tonnes of fuel oil. The figure was 470,000 tonnes lower than the 2.81 million tonnes posted in January.

The principal reasons for the decrease were said to be the Lunar New Year holiday and suppliers already having quite signifcant volumes of feedstock due to relatively large import figures in previous months.

According to the data, imports for almost all the suppliers fell in February, with month-on-month declines estimated between 14 and 54 percent.

Buying interest may have also been dampened last month by the higher premiums being charged for some cargoes, ICIS said.

One trader was reported as saying that CFR premiums for European M100 fuel oil surged to $30 per tonne for February arrivals. Meanwhile, the CFR premium for Venezuelan 380cst fuel oil was said to have been flat at around $15 per tonne.

Chinaoil is reported to have shipped two VLCC cargoes of Venezuelan 380cst fuel oil to China last month with some Venezuelan fuel oil also being shipped from Singapore to China.

Approximately 40,000 tonnes of cracked fuel oil was shipped from the United States to south China in February. This product cannot be used as feedstock for teapot refiners (i.e. independent refineries that use fuel oil as feedstock as they have limited access to crude oil).