Data released today, Sunday, shows that China's exports of refined fuel products increased year-on-year in May, as weak domestic demand prompted refineries to ship their inventories abroad while crude imports remained high. Diesel exports nearly quadrupled compared to last year, reaching 600,000 metric tons, and gasoline exports rose by 67 percent to 1.36 million metric tons. Domestic demand for diesel has been impacted by the ongoing weakness in China's real estate market, as well as a slowdown in the manufacturing sector.
Local demand for gasoline was expected to decrease in May as road travel returned to normal after the end of the national holiday at the beginning of the month. Analysts noted that with the holiday over and subsequent declines in retail sales, demand for gasoline and diesel should have declined while exports increased. Additionally, rising demand from the aviation sector contributed to an uptick in kerosene exports, which reached 950,000 metric tons compared to 810,000 metric tons in the previous year.
Previous data indicated that total refined fuel exports, which also include marine fuel, increased by 49.8 percent year-on-year to 4.88 million metric tons in May. Data released today also revealed that China imported 6.41 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas in May, representing a 31.5 percent increase from the previous year, as sharp declines in spot prices encouraged purchases.
