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Business

China halts October fuel exports as global diesel crunch deepens

China's refiners have suspended oil-product exports beyond Hong Kong and Macau until further notice from Beijing, with PetroChina cancelling most of its planned October gasoline and jet fuel shipments, Reuters reports.

By Priya Raman · · 1 min read

China’s refiners have suspended oil-product exports beyond Hong Kong and Macau until further notice from Beijing, four people briefed on the matter told Reuters on Thursday, during the week-long Golden Week holiday ending 7 October.

State major PetroChina cancelled the majority of its planned October gasoline and jet fuel shipments on Wednesday, three of the sources said, most committed in the past two weeks. Zhejiang Petrochemical, a privately controlled refiner, scheduled no exports during the holiday week.

Beijing has yet to authorise October exports outside Hong Kong and Macau, with no clarity on whether shipments resume after the holiday.

China’s gasoline and diesel inventories have slumped to seven-year lows, according to GL Consulting. China restricted exports earlier this year amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis and removed most curbs in mid-July; August exports reached 6.01 million tonnes, up 12.7% year on year and the highest since March 2024, according to S&P Global.

It comes a week after a White House fact sheet from Xi’s 25 September state visit said Trump urged him to “increase production of refined petroleum products to stabilize global supply”. On Wednesday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the Oval Office: “we’ve lost diesel exports from China.”

UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said losing Chinese diesel exports would tighten supply and support diesel cracks, while June Goh of Sparta Commodities said China’s priority “has always been domestic energy security”. S&P Global warned this week that Asian fuel markets have limited surplus supply.

Sources

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