By Andrew Hayley and Chen Aizhu
BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) – China’s crude oil imports fell 1.3% in the first two months of 2023 from a year earlier, data showed on Tuesday, but analysts said the he acceleration in imports in February was a sign that demand for fuel was picking up. after Beijing lifted COVID-19 controls.
Imports from January to February totaled 84.06 million tonnes, or about 10.40 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the General Administration of Customs. China imported 10.53 million bpd during the same period last year.
The Customs Service did not provide a breakdown by month, but analysts who track shipment data noted that Chinese imports in January were lower than a year earlier.
However, they noted that in February state refiners increased their imports of crude from the Middle East due to low official selling prices and bought oil from the Urals at very favorable prices in the ports. Europeans from Russia.
State refiners increased their purchases of cargoes for delivery in February amid a positive outlook for domestic fuel demand and relatively strong exports, Refinitiv analysts wrote last week.
Independent refineries also increased crude output in the two months, operating at 67.5% capacity, 4.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier, according to Chinese consultancy JLC.
PetroChina’s recently opened Jiangsu Shenghong Petrochemical and Guangdong Petrochemical refinery added shipments while gradually ramping up production, traders said.
A year ago, independent refineries were ordered to cut production to minimize air pollution during the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Demand for gasoline and jet fuel is expected to rebound as people travel more since Beijing lifted COVID-19 restrictions in early December.
The data showed that exports of refined petroleum products – which include diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and marine fuel – jumped 74.2% from the low level of the previous year, to almost 12 .7 million tonnes, after the government released higher quotas.
Sales of aviation and marine fuel in bonded warehouses, which are also counted as exports, contributed to the increase, according to Emma Li, an analyst at Vortexa Analytics in China.
Imports of natural gas in January-February, including pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG), fell 9.4 percent from a year earlier to 17.93 million tons, the data showed.
As for LNG, Refinitiv vessel tracking data put Chinese imports at 11.1 million tonnes, 12.4% lower than official data of 12.68 million tonnes for the same period. the previous year.
High LNG spot prices and weak domestic demand, due to plant closures during the Lunar New Year holiday, limited buying, traders said.
(1 ton = 7.3 barrels for crude conversion) (Additional report by Trixie Yap; Spanish edition by Ricardo Figueroa)