China’s exports of fuel oil, mainly for low-sulphur marine fuel bunkering, rose 42% year-on-year in May, customs data showed on Saturday.
Volumes totalled 1.76 million metric tons, or about 360,695 barrels per day (bpd), up 4% from April, according to General Administration of Customs data.
Some marine fuel demand had been diverted from regional hub Singapore to China’s Zhoushan due to cheaper prices at Chinese ports during most of May, market sources said.
Fuel oil imports in May extended declines after plummeting last month to what was then the lowest level since customs data for them began in 2021.
Imports of fuel oil totalled 559,346 tons in May, down 43% from April and 57% from a year earlier.
The imports, mostly purchased by refineries for use as feedstock, remained capped this quarter as China’s independent refineries trimmed runs amid weak domestic demand for products, market sources said.
The table below shows China’s fuel oil exports and imports in metric tons. The export section largely captures low-sulphur bunkering sales along China’s coast.
The import volumes include purchases under ordinary trade subject to import duties and consumption tax, as well as imports into bonded storage.
|
Exports (2026) |
Bonded storage trade |
m/m % change |
y/y % change |
|
January |
1,522,528 |
-32% |
14% |
|
February |
1,228,998 |
-19% |
-26% |
|
March |
1,930,596 |
57% |
10% |
|
April |
1,697,784 |
-12% |
-4% |
|
May * |
1,760,875 |
4% |
42% |