SINGAPORE/BEIJING- China's exports of clean marine fuels in December rose to a record since shipments began a year ago, taking 2020 exports of the ship fuel to 15.45 million tonnes, customs data showed on Wednesday.

Chinese oil refineries began exporting very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) in January to comply with emission rules set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), after Beijing granted tax incentives to boost local production to help create a regional bunkering hub.

In December, exports of VLSFO, with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5%, were 2.47 million tonnes, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, nearly double the volume in November.

Fuel oil imports into bonded storage, which includes both high-sulphur and low-sulphur materials, were 1.03 million tonnes in December, steady to November, and annual imports totalled 11.48 million tonnes.

China has 16 licenced firms supplying bonded marine fuel along its coast, including about a dozen based in the eastern port of Zhoushan, the country's top bunkering centre.

Despite a surge in domestic production, companies maintained imports of less expensive low-sulphur cargoes from Singapore for re-export.

In late December, China issued 5 million tonnes of clean marine fuel export quotas in the first release for 2021 to five companies including private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp.

The table below shows China's fuel oil imports and exports in metric tonnes.

The column of exports largely captures China's VLSFO bunkering sales along its coast.

Exports Monthly total Year to date Jan-Feb 1,560,681 1,560,681 Mar 1,068,789 2,629,470 Apr 1,433,185 4,062,655 May 1,143,929 5,196,914 June 1,264,909 6,461,687 July 1,179,766 7,641,453 Aug 1,621,449 9,262,902 Sept 1,266,796 10,529,698 Oct 1,223,311 11,753,009 Nov 1,261,832 13,014,841 Dec 2,473,000 15,449,200 Imports Ordinary Bonded Monthly Year to date

Trade storage total Jan-Feb 199,770 2,516,123 2,716,957 2,716,957 March 208,462 747,236 955,698 3,672,655 April 67,657 1,029,406 1,097,063 4,769,718 May 46,892 1,553,326 1,600,218 6,275,290 June 230,465 1,292,880 1,523,345 7,798,520 July 99,529 518,917 618,446 8,416,966

Aug 112,997 671,376 784,373 9,201,339 Sept 110,607 605,215 715,822 9,917,161 Oct 25,028 572,545 598,025 10,515,187 Nov 308 1,037,204 1,037,511 11,552,698 Dec 26,876 1,026,770 1,053,646 12,606,344

 

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu in Singapore and Muyu Xu in Beijing; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) ((aizhu.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3284; Reuters Messaging: aizhu.chen.reuters.com@reuters.net))