SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s fuel oil imports rose further in July, hitting their highest in seven months, customs data showed on Wednesday.
Fuel oil imports totalled 1.96 million metric tons, or about 400,855 barrels per day (bpd), last month, up 40% from June and 42% higher than the year-earlier period.
Import volumes have shown signs of a recovery after crack spreads retreated last month, supporting demand as a lower-cost feedstock versus crude oil.
Asia’s 380-cst high-sulphur fuel oil cracks fell to more than six-month lows in end-July, closing in steeper discounts from crude, pricing data showed.
An uptick in fuel oil imports also emerged after China’s Shandong provincial government decided to raise import tax rebates for some independent refineries after a tax hike dampened demand earlier this year.
Meanwhile, exports of low-sulphur marine fuels totalled 1.45 million tons, down 37% from June and easing 13% from the same month last year.
The table below shows China’s fuel oil exports and imports in metric tons.
The exports section largely captures low-sulphur oil-bunkering sales along China’s coast. The import volumes include purchases under ordinary trade, which are subject to import duties and consumption tax, as well as imports into bonded storage.
Exports Bonded storage m/m % y/y %
(2025) trade change change
January 1,337,960 -1% -20%
February 1,666,864 25% 42%
March 1,753,646 5% 33%
April 1,772,478 1% 8%
May 1,236,411 -30% -26%
June 2,318,320 88% 46%
July * 1,454,122 -37% -13%
Imports Ordinary Bonded Total m/m % y/y %
(2025) trade storage trade change change
January 991,690 890,684 1,882,374 -8% -13%
February 686,966 1,267,117 1,954,083 4% 36%
March 510,604 872,008 1,382,612 -29% -30%
April 553,545 1,273,856 1,827,401 32% -38%
May 406,413 895,315 1,301,728 -29% -40%
June 442,352 954,692 1,397,044 7% -6%
July * 428,451 1,528,478 1,956,929 40% 42%
(Figures are based on latest available data at the time of publishing, and may be subject to revision by China customs at a later date)
(1 metric ton = 6.35 barrels for fuel oil conversion)
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore and Colleen Howe in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
