China refinery throughput drops to 14-month low in July

Oil

Chinese refinery throughput fell 896K b/d m-o-m to 13.97M b/d in July according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the lowest since May 2020 when throughput averaged 13.69M b/d. Independent refineries have found it difficult to lift utilisation rates due to the lack of import quotas, lower refining margins and high inventories, Reuters reported. Between January-July, refinery throughput averaged 14.26M b/d, up 1.24M b/d y-o-y. Reuters suggested the y-o-y increase highlighted the economy’s recovery from the initial pandemic outbreak.