It is learned by OilChem that China's state-owned refineries have planned to raise the refined oil exports by 20.69% from the planned volume in February at 4.2 million tonnes in March, in order to ease the supply surplus in the domestic market with the purpose of boosting the refined oil prices.
Source: Mysteel OilChem
China's state-owned refineries have maintained high capacity utilization rates entering 2024, aggravating the supply surplus when the demand side has not shown strong recovery, according to OilChem survey.
As such, the refineries have planned to raise the exports to balance the overall supply and demand of refined oil in China.
However, the supply surplus is expected to remain in place in March, as the refineries are projected to maintain high production so as to fulfill the annual production guidance through 2024. In the absence of bulls concerning international crude oil prices, China's refined oil prices are unlikely to rise significantly in March despite the growth in exports.
Written by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
Edited by Navy Liu, liuchuanjun@mysteel.com