China September diesel, gasoline exports fall on robust domestic demand

MOSCOW (MRC) - China’s September diesel and gasoline exports fell sharply from August as robust domestic demand curbed overseas shipments, asper Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Gasoline exports were 730,000 tonnes last month, the lowest since the same month a year ago when shipments were 568,000 tonnes, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

Diesel exports in September fell to a 21-month low at 1.03 million tonnes below 1.184 million tonnes during the same month a year earlier, the data showed.

Exports last month fell even as China’s refinery runs rose to a daily record high as refiners ramped up production on improving margins. This suggests that the increased fuel output was consumed inside the country.

Liquefied natural gas imports were at 4.37 million tonnes in September, up 27 percent from a year ago but falling from 4.71 million tonnes in August, the data showed.

For the first nine months of the year, arrivals rose 44 percent from the same period last year to 36.98 million tonnes, according to the data.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil product margins have been tossed around on a wild rollercoaster ride in October, as factors like impending Iran sanctions, the China-U.S. trade war and upcoming shipping regulations yank fuel profits up, down and back again, as per Reuters.

Some profit margins, known as crack spreads in the industry, including for Asian fuel oil and gasoil have boomed, while others, such as Asian and European gasoline cracks, have plunged. Crack spreads are the difference between the price of crude oil and the price of the products such as diesel and gasoline refined from it. The term is derived from the cracking process sometimes used in petroleum refining to produce the fuels.

Asia's cracks for gasoil and fuel oil have gained 16.3 percent and a whopping 124.3 percent, respectively, since the start of the year - with most of the jump happening this month. "These cracks are extraordinary," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of Indian energy consultancy Trifecta.

Vijayakar, a veteran of India's refining industry, said such high gasoil and fuel oil cracks should move a refiner to maximise these products. "Keenly aware that these cracks are extraordinary, he (the refiner) should protect such production decisions by hedging the cracks ... as an insurance to protect windfall gains," Vijayakar said.

The margin on fuel oil - a residue from crude processing - is typically negative. In the last week of October, however, it stood at around USD1 per barrel, pushed up in part by tightening supply ahead of sanctions against Iran, a major supplier of fuel oil, which the United States will impose from next week.

Another strong performer has been distillate fuel, including gasoil. One of the biggest drivers here has been new regulation by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This will force shippers to adopt cleaner fuel standards from 2020, and it pushing up demand for low-sulphur gasoil made from heavy crude.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion due to an equipment failure at PBF Energy’s Delaware City, Delaware refinery on Monday injured three people, requiring hospitalization, a report by Delaware Online said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

PBF runs a 182,200 barrel-per-day refinery in Delaware City.

During equipment maintenance, there was a minor explosion and three men were burned, the report said, quoting a state fire marshal.

The report also said there was no fire and no major damage to equipment at the facility.

The last reported explosion at the refinery was in 2015, when a 62-year-old man was burned on his face and neck in a flash fire. The fire's cause was a lack of protocol, deemed a state report.

All of the burn victims are expected to survive, the fire marshal's office said.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- North American automotive vendor tooling spend will be USD8 billion in 2019, a new report says, which is a decreased amount compared to 2018, and driven by the decreased number of North American vehicle launches predicted between 2019 and 2021, as per Canplastics.

The analysis, from Southfield, Mich.-based market research firm Harbour Results Inc. (HRI), predicts that 153 new vehicles will be launched between 2019 and 2021, versus the 183 new vehicles launched in North America between 2016 and 2018. Furthermore, HRI said, the Detroit Three automakers, who source most of their tools in this region, are forecasted to source only nine vehicles in 2019.

"The industry experienced a boom in 2017 with USD10.3 billion in tooling spend and, based on the data, we expected 2018 to reach over USD11 billion,” said Laurie Harbour, HRI president and CEO. "However, due to a number of vehicle cancelations and delays, we are predicting the year to be closer to USD9.2 billion."

As a result, Laurie Harbour said, the industry is USD2.2 billion below forecast through first three quarters of 2018, resulting in a six-point dip in tooling shop utilization to 79 per cent.

HRI anticipates that some of what was planned for 2018 will spill into 2019 to help level out the tooling spend for the next three years. "In addition to the 2019 forecast, we estimate future North American tooling spend to remain relatively stable with 2020 totaling USD8.2 billion and 2021 at USD9 billion," Laurie Harbour said.

"This forecast is based on current data and information, but issues like tariffs, automaker restructuring, and/or an economic recession could drastically impact the forecast resulting in a dip in tooling spend as much as USD2 billion,” she added. "As the tooling market contracts, it is important that shops, specifically small shops that benefited from the increased outsourcing in 2017, prepare for the future. It is important that tool shops continue to focus on improving operations, smart investment in people and technology and strategic planning to remain competitive in the near and long term."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's market regulator will set up a system to recall vehicles that violate the country's pollution and emissions standards, it said on Wednesday, with cars now the biggest source of smog in major cities, as per Reuters.

China's air quality is going to come under even further pressure, with another 100 million vehicles set to ply its roads in the coming five years, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in comments posted on its website.

The nation's newly revised air pollution law includes provisions to recall vehicles that fail to meet state emissions standards, it said, and it has already studied similar product recall systems in the United States, Europe and Japan.

The regulator is currently studying key issues like the identification of equipment defects and the quality of key components used in reducing engine emissions, but it will work with the environment ministry to draw up new legislation and aims to implement the new system as soon as possible.

Though China has been cracking down on factory emissions and curbing the consumption of coal, vehicle pollution remains a growing problem, increasing lung-damaging, ground-level ozone levels in many major cities.

China's total vehicle fleet reached 310 million last year, and cars were responsible for about 45 percent of air pollution in the capital, Beijing, and nearly 30 percent in Shanghai, according to figures from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment earlier this year.

China eliminated more than 20 million old and substandard vehicles from its roads last year to cut pollution, and it has also banned the sale of low-grade, high-emissions diesel.

Its "China VI" fuel standards, which are tougher than those used in the European Union, have already been introduced in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region - known for its heavy smog - and will be made mandatory nationwide at the beginning of next year.

Top refiner Sinopec is upgrading its refineries to produce fuel to comply with the new standards. But enforcing the standards has been a challenge, with fraudulent practices believed to be widespread. Some garages have been found selling equipment to cheat fuel quality detectors, and the environment ministry said in July it had shut as many as 639 substandard vehicle testing stations last year.
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