China’s fuel oil imports for March dropped nine per cent month-on-month to 2.43 million tonnes in March, the customs data showed.
Chinese refinery throughput fell after the Iran war curbed run rates, weighing on fuel oil feedstock appetite, trade sources said.
Stronger fuel oil values relative to crude also slowed purchases, with cracks for high-sulphur fuel oil flipping to premiums from discounts after the US-Iran conflict broke out, according to LSEG-compiled data.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)