18 May 2022 | 12:26 UTC

CHINA DATA: April jet fuel output slumps to 10-year low of 1.75 mil mt amid lockdowns

Highlights

Strict movement restrictions dampen domestic consumption

Gasoline output lowest since June 2020 at 11.06 million mt

Crude throughput drops to 2-year low of 51.81 million mt in April

China's jet fuel production hit a 10-year low of 1.75 million mt in April as lockdowns hurt domestic consumption, official data showed May 18.

The April output represents a 55.6% year-on-year drop and a 33.4% decline from March. This is the lowest monthly output recorded since June 2012, when jet fuel production was at 1.65 million mt, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

China has restricted movement significantly following a surge in COVID-19 infections, with the major financial hub of Shanghai under complete lockdown since April.

China's jet fuel exports, however, rose 25.2% month on month to a two-year high of 960,000 mt amid soaring overseas demand as more countries reopen and flights resume, General Administration of Customs data released may 18 showed.

China's jet fuel production yield declined to 3.4% in April, from 4.5% in March and 6.8% in April 2021.

The lockdowns and travel restrictions in various provinces also forced Chinese refineries to cut gasoline output yield to 21.3% in April, from 23.4% in March. Gasoline output fell 19.4% month on month to 11.06 million mt in April -- the lowest level since 10.69 million mt produced in June 2020.

China produced 39.62 million mt of LPG, naphtha, gasoline, jet fuel/kerosene, gasoil and fuel oil in April, down 12.8% from March, but up slightly by 0.5% year on year.

China's crude throughput dropped 10.5% year on year and 11.6% from March to a two-year low of 51.81 million mt in April. Oil product output yield in April fell one percentage point month on month to 74.5%, while combined yield was eight percentage points higher than the 66.4% for April 2021, NBS data showed.

Demand for petrochemical products was worse than for oil products on a year-on-year basis, with state-run and private refining and petrochemical complexes cutting their petrochemical product yields amid narrowing margins.

It mirrored the 2.9% year-on-year fall in China's industrial production in April. The country's industrial production was last lower by 1.1% in March 2020, following a year-on-year drop of 13.5% over January-February 2020, NBS data showed.

CHINA'S PETROLEUM OUTPUT ('000)

Apr-22
Apr-21*
Change
Mar-22
Change
Crude oil
17.00
16.34
4.0%
17.71
-4.0%
Crude throughput
51.81
57.89
-10.5%
58.59
-11.6%
LPG
3.83
3.82
0.2%
4.30
-10.8%
Naphtha
4.04
3.51
15.0%
4.40
-8.3%
Gasoline
11.06
11.80
-6.3%
13.72
-19.4%
Jet/kerosene
1.75
3.94
-55.6%
2.63
-33.4%
Gasoil
14.27
12.53
13.9%
15.54
-8.2%
Fuel oil
3.68
2.84
29.6%
3.69
-0.2%
Jan-Apr 2022
Jan-Apr 2021
Change
Crude oil
68.19
65.37
4.3%
Crude throughput
223.25
232.07
-3.8%
LPG
16.00
15.84
1.0%
Naphtha
17.41
15.58
11.8%
Gasoline
50.99
48.24
5.7%
Jet/kerosene
9.94
14.41
-31.0%
Gasoil
59.56
50.26
18.5%
Fuel oil
15.54
11.91
30.5%

*Figures for 2021 differ from volumes reported earlier due to NBS revisions

Source: China's National Bureau of Statistics