China Weekly Oil Summary: Sinopec Diesel-Fuel Oil Quota Swap

MNI (London) - China’s Sinopec has applied to the government to swap some marine fuel export quota to export more distillates and gasoline, according to Reuters sources. Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner, wants to swap 0.8m mt of its 3m mt fuel oil quota in exchange for diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline.

• Run rates at China’s state-owned refineries fell to 80.3% capacity in the week to Oct. 12, according to OilChem, the lowest since Aug. 10.
• Oct. 11 - China’s gasoline production is expected to fall by 1.82% in October when compared to September levels, totalling 15.1m mt. This is due to lower production at state-owned refineries. Meanwhile, Chinese gasoline demand is forecast to be 15.85m mt, with OilChem thus predicting a lower-than-expected supply deficit of 0.75m mt.
• Oct. 9 - China released its fourth batch of crude oil import quotas for non-state-owned totalling 9.54m mt and below expectations, according to OilChem. Of the total, 53% went to independent refineries, 41% to private integrated refineries, and other entities receiving the remaining 6%.
• DATA: CPI was 0.0% in September, compared with a 0.2% market consensus and down from August's 0.1% print, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday.
• DATA: China's exports decreased by 6.2% y/y in September, marking the fifth monthly fall after August's 8.8% y/y drop, despite beating consensus of a 7.5% y/y fall, data from Customs showed. Imports decreased 6.2% y/y against August's 7.3% y/y fall, the seventh consecutive monthly drop, driven by falling commodity prices. The market had expected a 6.0% y/y fall.
• EXCLUSIVE: China has sufficient monetary and fiscal firepower to avoid a 1990’s Japan-style decline and recession, which it can deploy to stabilise the property sector gradually without triggering a sharp house-price correction, a senior policy advisor told MNI.
• Oct. 11 - EXCLUSIVE: China will continue to face economic headwinds this year as consumption remains soft, the property sector fails to rebound and monetary and fiscal easing remains limited in its scope despite market positioning for further accommodative policies, economists and advisors told MNI.