China’s independent refiners raised their crude oil throughput to a four-month high in October as margins hit record highs. These companies are expected to continue boosting their runs through the end of 2021 if margins remain elevated, analysts and industry sources said. An industry survey showed independent refiners in Shandong province processed 10.12 million tons of crude last month, rising 6.5% from a month earlier. That translates to an average run rate of 71.5%, an increase of two percentage points from September.
In addition, Hengli Petrochemical's refinery in Liaoning province raised throughput by 3.8%, from 1.59 million tons in September to 1.65 million tons in October. XPC also raised its crude processing by 2.4%, from 1.68 million tons to 1.72 million tons over the same period. ZPC is expected to raise its throughput further after starting up its 10 million tons/year crude distillation capacity in mid-November.
The price of zero-vapour gasoil in China averaged CNY7,789 ($1,220) in October, an increase of 18.4% from September. Meanwhile, the average price of 92 RON gasoline jumped 10.5% to CNY8,456 ($1,325) per ton over the same period. Refining margins for cracking imported oil surged 123.6% from September to CNY1,185 ($186) per ton in October.
