China's Diesel Exports Dip Amid Domestic Supply Squeeze

November 18, 2021

China's diesel exports fell in October after a rebound the previous month as refiners diverted more supplies to the domestic market to make up for a supply squeeze following months of production curbs.

China shipped abroad 560,000 tonnes of diesel last month, down 74% from the same period last year and down from 780,000 tonnes in September, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.

Chinese refiners cut fuel output in the third quarter because of COVID-19 curbs and floods but diesel consumption rebounded, partly triggered by a widespread power crunch that caught the market by surprise that even prompted rare imports of the fuel.

Gasoline exports reached 1.01 million tonnes, up from 920,000 tonnes in September but remained 47% below year-ago level, customs data showed.

Jet kerosene exports were at 830,000 tonnes, up 90% from the year before, supported by firm Asian refining margins for the aviation fuel alongside recovering air travel demand.

China earlier this month issued refined fuel export quotas for an additional 1.6 million tonnes for the rest of the year, but overall China has slashed the allowances for 2021 by a third.

Customs data also showed China's liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose 24.3% from a year earlier to 6.17 million tonnes, driving total imports of the super-chilled fuel in the first 10 months of the year to 64.5 million tonnes, up 22.5% from a year earlier.

Below are details of fuel exports and imports of LNG in millions of tonnes, with percentage changes as provided by customs.

Exports (mln tonnes)	Oct	y/y % change	Jan-Oct	y/y % change
Gasoline	1.01	-47	12.8	-3.7
Diesel	0.56	-74	15.72	-0.4
Jet fuel	0.83	90	6.19	-22.6

Import (mln tonnes)	Sept	y/y % change	Jan-Sept	y/y % change
LNG	6.17	24.3	64.50	22.5