The feedstock arrivals at ports in Shandong Province and Tianjin City (including Huanghua City) by independent refineries and traders dropped 7.41% month on month at 10.06 million tonnes in October, according to OilChem tracking of the shipping schedules.
Source: Mysteel OilChem
In detail, the arrivals of crude oil jumped 9.88% from September at 8.52 million tonnes in October. However, the bitumen mixtures and fuel oil arrivals both fell with a monthly reduction of 52% and 23% respectively at 836,000 tonnes and 541,000 tonnes.
On the whole, the arrivals of heavy crude oil and bitumen mixtures dropped palpably due to high prices and shrining refining profits. But the crude oil arrivals rose as the local administration encouraged the consumption of crude oil import quotas, and the fewer-than-expected imports of other feedstocks also boosted the demand for crude oil.
Looking ahead over November, the feedstock arrivals are projected to fall significantly amid falling refining profits, which are likely to prompt the independent refineries to further lower the capacity utilization rates.
Source: Mysteel OilChem
Written by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
Edited by Navy Liu, liuchuanjun@mysteel.com