- 2024 LSFO exports 18.33 mln tons, -1.6% vs 2023
- 2024 gasoline oil imports +7.4% at report 24.1 mln tons
- Fuel oil imports to sample down in 2025 on new tariffs, tax protection
China’s exports of low-sulfur marine fuels dipped 1.6% in 2024 from the sooner yr, data from the Frequent Administration of Customs confirmed. The decline in exports emerged no matter an uptick in refuelling demand at key bunker ports globally, as China decrease export quotas in its final batch of the yr.
Exports of the marine gasoline, which is particularly of very low-sulphur gasoline oil (VLSFO) grade, totalled 18.33 million metric tons, customs data confirmed. VLSFO has a most sulphur content material materials of 0.5% to regulate to emission pointers set by the IMO. That in distinction with 18.6 million tons in 2023, a yr when demand picked up extra as China exited COVID-19 lockdowns.
The easing annual exports, measured principally by product sales from bonded storage for vessels plying worldwide routes, contrasted with the stronger bunker product sales seen at completely different excessive refuelling hubs – Singapore and the UAE’s Fujairah. The ultimate 2024 batch of marine gasoline export quotas for China had been beneath market expectations, leading to a lot much less residence present accessible for bunkering.
China’s Zhoushan refuelling hub logged modern highs in bunker volumes totalling 7.26 million tons in 2024, primarily based totally on data from Zhoushan port. Within the meantime, the number of licensed bonded bunker suppliers all through China moreover edged elevated to 37 as of 2024, up from 34 as of 2023, in response to JLC data.
China’s complete gasoline oil imports climbed extra in 2024, up 7.4% to 24.1 million tons, a report extreme, primarily based totally on customs data and historic data from Kpler. Since 2023, Chinese language language neutral refineries have ramped up purchases of gasoline oil to utilize as lower-cost feedstock, notably discounted oil blended from Russian barrels.
Nonetheless, import demand is predicted to drop in early 2025 following a hike throughout the product’s import tax, lower tax rebates on gasoline oil shipments, along with logistical challenges to import Russian gasoline amid sanctions uncertainty.
The import volumes included purchases under weird commerce, which might be matter to import duty and consumption tax, along with imports into bonded storage.