China’s exports of clean marine bunker, or very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), rose 17.8% in November than a month ago, as refineries acquired a new batch of export allowances, according to Reuters.

Observed on Monday, the General Administration of Customs indicated that exports of the shipping fuel, which has a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% to comply with emission rules set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) increased at 1.75 million tonnes, according to a preliminary data.

China amounted to 1 million tonnes of clean marine fuel export quotas last month for three state-backed refineries, up from 10 million tonnes last year, while the total allowances for the bunker fuel in 2021 were 12 million tonnes.

Analysts from China-based Longzhong firm expect China’s marine fuel supply to rise steadily in the rest of 2021 and to make the total supply for the year reach a record high of 20 million tonnes.

In end-November, from $39.29 at the start of the month, the price difference between clean marine fuel supplied in China’s Zhoushan and Singapore increased to $7.31 per tonne.

And according to customs data on Monday, fuel oil imports reached 1.66 million tonnes in November, with high-sulphur and low-sulphur supplies coming into bonded storage at 1.22 million tonnes.

The table below shows China’s fuel oil imports and exports, all in metric tonnes.

Exports under the bonded storage trade largely involve China’s VLSFO bunkering sales along its coastline.

Source: Reuters