CHINA DATA: April crude throughput seen sharply higher on year, easing from record high in March

China's crude throughput was seen sharply higher year on year in April but dipping from the record high of 14.97 million b/d in March due to scheduled maintenance at both state-owned and small-sized independent refineries, information collected by S&P Global Commodity Insights showed April 27.

However, the month-on-month decline in April was seen softer than earlier expected as new integrated refining complexes have been boosting run rates amid healthy margins, while the sharp year-on-year jump was off a low base of 12.66 million b/d last April when China's financial center Shanghai was under tight COVID-19-related controls.

Rising throughput at new integrated complexes in April would partly offset the lower utilization of 80.4% in the month at China's four state-owned refiners Sinopec, PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinochem, down from 81.1% in March.

China's crude throughput hit a record high in March despite a month-on-month reduction of 1.4 percentage points in the utilization rate amid the commissioning of PetroChina's 400,000 b/d Guangdong Petrochemical refinery, reflecting an increase in the country's refining capacity and rising throughput in the independent sector.

In May, 540,000 b/d of capacity at state-owned refineries will be taken offline for scheduled maintenance; 440,000 b/d at Sinopec and 100,000 b/d at PetroChina, S&P Global data showed.

This will add to 680,000 b/d of capacity shut at four refineries in April and another 440,000 b/d at two refineries offline since March.

A combined 2.07 million b/d of capacity at refineries will be offline for scheduled maintenance in the first half of 2023, according to S&P Global data, though not all at the same time.

Sinopec run rate rises despite maintenance

The combined utilization rate at Sinopec was about 1.4 percentage points higher at 86.4% in April as more refineries raising run rates offset the loss at two refineries under maintenance.

The run rates at Sinopec's flagship refinery Zhenhai Petrochemical and Refining, and at Jinling Petrochemical, were down by six and 13 percentage points respectively from March due to scheduled maintenance, which was largely offset by at least 17 of Sinopec's 24 refineries raising their run rates by at least one percentage point from March.

This includes Zhongke Petrochemical and Refining, Tianjin Petrochemical and Shanghai Petrochemical, which lifted their run rates by 13, nine and eight percentage points, respectively, from the previous month.

"We have been operating at the maximum capacity as a few refineries were undergoing maintenance," a Sinopec refinery source said.

Sinochem continued to lift the utilization rate at its 300,000 b/d Quanzhou Petrochemical refinery by 11 percentage points to 105% in April, the second month-on-month increase since February as throughput at the 60,000 b/d CDU normalized.

Turnarounds cut PetroChina's utilization

PetroChina's combined run rate was down three percentage points at 74.3% in April as its Urumqi Petrochemical and Liaoyang Petrochemical refineries started maintenance in the month.

Run rates edging higher at a few of PetroChina's refineries helped offset the decline, including the greenfield Guangdong Petrochemical and Daqing Refining and Petrochemical refineries, which raised April utilization rates by 11 and 15 percentage points, respectively, from March.

The utilization rate at CNOOC's 440,000 b/d Huizhou Petrochemical fell to 45% in April from 73% the month before due to maintenance that began in mid-March.

The 48 state-owned refineries covered by S&P Global in April planned to process 8.31 million b/d of crude in the month, against their combined capacity of 10.34 million b/d.

This comprises 24 refineries under Sinopec, 22 under PetroChina, CNOOC's Huizhou Petrochemical and Sinochem's Quanzhou Petrochemical, 12 of which cut run rates in April by at least one percentage point from March. In comparison, 16 out of the 48 refineries covered in March reported having cut their run rates by at least one percentage point from the month before.

Private refining complexes

Private integrated refining complexes have been boosting run rates from March due to healthy margins for petrochemical products, market sources said.

Both the 800,000 b/d Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical and new 320,000 b/d Shenghong Petrochemical refineries have been operating at around 105% in April, up five percentage points from March.

The 400,000 b/d Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) refinery raised utilization to around 98% in April, up four percentage points over the same period.

However, small-scale independent refineries in eastern Shandong province trimmed their combined run rate to around 62.7% in April from 65.7% in March, due mainly to scheduled maintenance at a few refineries, data from local energy information provider JLC showed.

Their utilization rate is likely to remain capped until June when maintenance season ends.

State-owned refineries maintenance schedule

** Sinopec's 540,000 b/d Zhenhai Refining & Petrochemical plant started maintenance at its 200,000 b/d CDU around March 12 that will last until early May.

** CNOOC's 440,000 b/d Huizhou Petrochemical plant shut its 240,000 b/d Phase I refining complex for 50 days' maintenance March 16.

** Sinopec's 420,000 b/d Jinling Petrochemical plant shut its 160,000 b/d No. 3 CDU for 35 days' maintenance April 12.

** PetroChina's 180,000 b/d Liaoyang Petrochemical plant is shut for maintenance April 10-May 26.

** PetroChina's 100,000 b/d Changqing Petrochemical plant shut for maintenance early April until end May.

** PetroChina's 240,000 b/d Urumqi Petrochemical plant has been under maintenance since April 20 until June 15.

** Sinopec's 240,000 b/d Qingdao Refining & Petrochemical plant will undergo full maintenance from May 25 to end July.

** Sinopec's 200,000 b/d Luoyang Refining & Petrochemical plant will undergo overall maintenance from May 15 to July 7.

** PetroChina's 100,000 b/d Harbin Petrochemical plant will shut for overall turnaround from early May to end June.

** PetroChina's 200,000 b/d Daqing Petrochemical plant will undergo overall maintenance mid-June to end July.

** PetroChina's 210,000 b/d Lanzhou Petrochemical plant will undergo full maintenance over June-August.

Average run rates at China's top refiners:

Source: S&P Global Commodity Insights