Chinese refinery throughput falls in December
Chinese refinery throughput declined by 690K b/d m-o-m and 300K b/d y-o-y to 13.89M b/d in December, falling after previously surging to a five-month high in November, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Refiners ramped up their output in November to tackle a domestic diesel shortage and capitalise on healthy margins amid elevated gasoline and diesel prices, however this eased in December as the product market flipped into a surplus.
Across 2021 throughput averaged a record 14.13M b/d, which is an increase of 620K b/d y-o-y, bolstered largely by refinery capacity expansions and robust fuel demand in the first half of the year. Further support was provided in 1H June by the introduction of import taxes on mixed aromatics and light cycle oil, which are used as blending materials in the production of gasoil and gasoline, as this required refineries to boost their runs in order to compensate for a reduced supply of these fuels.
