Imports of fuel oil into China rose by 4 percent month-on-month in September, according to data published by the General Administration of Customs.
China imported around 2.33 million tonnes of fuel oil last month. The figure was 44 percent higher than during the corresponding month last year.
Feedstock demand from independent, or 'teapot', refineries in Shandong rose in September. A large percentage of the orders they placed in September were for cargoes to arrive in late September or early October, mainly from nearby Singapore and some other countries in Southeast Asia. As a result, fuel oil imports into China from Southeast Asia climbed significantly last month.
Fuel oil demand from Europe declined by 26 percent month-on-month, largely due to weak buying interest from Chinese firms in July and August. In total, approximately 400,000 metric tonnes of fuel oil from the Black Sea and European ports reached China in September.
According to market sources, only one cargo of fuel oil arrived from Kazakhstan last month and M100 fuel oil supply from Russia remained tight because of converging refinery maintenance, which was merely sufficient to meet demand from term contracts.
Fuel oil supply from the Middle East remained tight in August and September. No Iranian fuel oil flowed into China during the month of September, sources said.
Demand for imported fuel oil in 2011 has been supported by independent refineries and China’s booming bonded bunker market. Shandong-based independent refineries have steadily increased their demand for straight-run fuel oil this year as have other refineries in the country.
The growth of the bonded bunker market has also bolstered the country's fuel oil imports. Sales of bonded bunker fuel in China rose by 803,000 tonnes, or 20.8 percent year-on-year, during the first six months of 2011, according to market estimates.
The country's total sales of fuel oil and marine gasoil were calculated to have risen to 4.66 million metric tonnes in the first half of this year, up from 3.857 million metric tonnes during the corresponding period in 2010.
