Shandong independent refineries were expected to see a 140% month-on-month surge in straight-run fuel oil imports in February, due to its cost performance and feedstock gap.
According to OilChem's survey, the volume of imports could reach 1.03 million tonnes, compared to the highest monthly average of 0.5 million tonnes in 2022.
Sources indicated that refineries were importing straight-run fuel oil with a density of 0.91-0.98 from Russia, Southeast Asia and Middle East regions. In addition to M100, wax oil and various residual oil resources are being used to produce gasoline, gasoil and bitumen.
The Ministry of Commerce has set an import allowance of 16.20 million tonnes for non-state trade in 2023, allowing enterprises to apply for fuel oil import allowances based on actual needs.
Written by Catherine Sun, sss@oilchem.net
Edited by Navy Liu, navy@oilchem.net