China’s daily oil refinery throughput in June rose 1.6% from a month ago, official data showed on Monday, as refiners resumed operations after completing spring maintenance and ramped up production to meet summer travel demand.

Total refinery throughput in the world’s second-largest oil consumer was 60.95 million metric tons last month, equivalent to 14.83 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

June’s figures represent a marginal increase on the 14.6 million bpd rate seen in the prior month, although they surged by 10.2% from a low base in the same period last year.

For the first half of 2023, China processed a total of 363.6 million metric tons of crude oil, or 14.66 million bpd, up 9.9% year-on-year, according to the data.

June saw the completion of almost all planned refinery maintenance for the spring season. Only four major state-backed refineries are undergoing or will shut down for overhauls in July and August.

High refinery runs came even against an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, which continues to weigh on demand for refined fuels, most notably diesel, as well as higher margin petrochemicals.

Still, demand for gasoline is likely to rise ahead of the summer travel season, while jet fuel demand continues to recover.

Analysts at JPMorgan noted that international flight volumes in and out of China in late June reached their 2023 highs, at 62% of 2019 levels.

Refinery runs are expected to rise further in July, supported by the resumption of activity in Shandong, and a continued step up in jet fuel demand and greater fuel exports.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Andrew Hayley in Beijing and Muyu Xu in Singapore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonali Paul)