On the back of lower import prices, China's bitumen import volume jumped 23.60% month on month (MoM) and stood at 365,000 tonnes in April, up 4.70% year on year (YoY), and the volume totaled 1.21 million tonnes over January-April, a year-on-year increase of 10.80%, data from General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) showed.
South Korea remained the top one supplier for China, and the imports from which reached 124,000 tonnes in April, up 10% from last month and down 30% from last year. UAE ranked the second, with a volime of 94,000 tonnes, an increase of 38.40% month-on-month and an increase of 194% year-on-year. Singapore also reported a drastic rise, with the figure of 94,000 tonnes, up 124.60% from last month and up 5.80% from a year ago, according to GACC.
China's Bitumen Supply and Demand Balance (Unit: '000 tonnes)
| Date | Apr-24 | Mar-24 | Apr-23 | MoM | YoY |
| Inventory as of Early Apr | 3,843.00 | 3,472.00 | 3,018.00 | 10.70% | 27.30% |
| Production | 2,285.00 | 2,378.00 | 2,763.00 | -3.90% | -17.30% |
| Imports | 365.00 | 295.00 | 349.00 | 23.80% | 4.70% |
| Total Supply | 6,493.00 | 6,145.00 | 6,130.00 | 5.70% | 5.90% |
| Actual Downstream Consumption | 2,508.00 | 2,283.00 | 2,865.00 | 9.80% | -12.50% |
| Exports | 16.00 | 28.00 | 36.00 | -43.20% | -56.10% |
| Total Demand | 2,524.00 | 2,311.00 | 2,901.00 | 9.20% | -13.00% |
| Inventory as of Late Apr | 3,969.00 | 3,834.00 | 3,229.00 | 3.50% | 22.90% |
Source: OilChem
Looking at the domestic market, dragged down by poor profits, domestic bitumen production was cut by 3.90% over month to 2.29 million tonnes in April, OilChem's data showed. The growth in bitumen imports together with the weaker-than-expected demand, the bitumen inventory went high significantly, which put a cap on price appreciation of bitumen.
Given the high inventory and subdued downstream demand, OilChem predicts the bitumen imports might fall to about 240,000-260,000 tonnes in May.
Written by Catherine Sun, sss@oilchem.net
Edited by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
