Weekly China Oil Summary: Additional Fuel Oil Quotas Released

MNI (London) - China released a further 3 million metric tons in fuel oil import quotas in 2023 for non-state firms according to the Ministry of Commerce Nov. 27, taking the total for 2023 to 19.2mn tons.

• Fuel oil import quotas differ from those for oil and oil products with companies required to apply for the fuel oil import quotas cargo by cargo until the annual volume is hit, in a first-come-first-served manner according to Platts.
• China’s Sinopec asked the government for an additional 0.8m mt of export quota for refined products as a surplus of oil products in the domestic market boosts stockpiles at Chinese refineries, according to Bloomberg.
• OilChem said that China’s planned exports of refined products, are scheduled at 2.62m mt in December, down 4% on November.
• DATA: China's Caixin manufacturing PMI rose by 1.2 points to register 50.7 in November from October, rising back to the expansionary zone above the breakeven 50 mark and hitting a three-month high, the financial publisher said.
• DATA: China's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell by 0.1 points to 49.4 in November, staying in the contractionary zone below the breakeven 50 mark for the second month.
• POLICY: China should set its economic growth target at 5% for 2024 to boost market confidence, though the GDP is estimated to print near 4.8%, according to a report released by a prominent think tank.
• FROM THE PRESS: China's manufacturers face insufficient market demand according to Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician at the Service Industry Survey Center of the National Bureau of Statistics.