China’s fuel oil imports rebounded to three-month highs in August, while export volume for bunkering dropped to five-month lows, customs data showed on Friday.

August imports totalled 1.90 million metric tons orabout 390,000 barrels per day, 38% higher than July and 36% up from a year earlier, showed General Administration of Customs data.

A looming tax revamp could have driven some refiners to pick up more barrels ahead of its implementation, while a softer high sulphur fuel oil market in August also spurred buying interest, market sources said.

Prompt-month cracks for 380-cst HSFO slipped by more than 20% through August, LSEG data showed.

The import volume included purchases under ordinary trade, which are subject to import duty and consumption tax, as well as imports into bonded storage.

Meanwhile, fuel oil export volume for bunkering totalled 1.46 million tons in August, hitting five-month lows. August volume was down 12% from July and 5% lower than in the corresponding month last year.

The exports are measured mostly by sales from bonded storage for vessels plying international routes.

China has released new oil export quotas for the rest of 2024, comprising 8 million tons of clean refined fuel and 1 million tons of marine fuel.

The tables below show China’s fuel oil exports and imports in metric tons. The exports section largely captures China’s low sulphur oil bunkering sales along its coast.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Michael Perry and Christopher Cushing)