China exported 49,000 mt of gasoline to Bangladesh in April, General Administration of Customs data showed May 20, marking the second straight month of gasoline outflows to the country following a rare export in March as the South Asian nation looks for cost-effective alternatives to LNG for its power consumption needs.
Bangladesh has been frequently importing gasoil from China over the past years but purchasing gasoline has been uncommon. Bangladesh in a rare event imported 43,000 mt of gasoline from China in March.
A Bangladeshi official said earlier this year that China’s Unipec and PetroChina would supply about 40% of its oil product imports totaling about 600,000 mt of gasoil, gasoline, and jet fuel in the first half of 2022.
State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corp. in April invited tenders to import more oil products over July-December 2022, due to higher LNG prices, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported earlier. Bangladesh has said it expects running oil-fired power plants to be more cost-effective than regasified LNG-run power plants.
China also exported gasoline cargoes of 357,000 mt to Iraq in April after a gap of four months, suggesting renewed buying interest from the country. China last exported 360,000 mt of gasoline to Iraq in December 2021.
China’s overall gasoline exports fell 38.7% year on year to 4 million mt over January-April, according to GAC data.
Exports to Pakistan surged 175% year on year to 1.3 million mt over the first four months of the year. Pakistan was the only country to post a year-on-year growth in gasoline inflows over January-April among China’s top five recipients.
Limited quotas to cap May gasoline exports
With only 4.41 million mt of export quotas remaining May onward until the allocation of fresh quotas, China’s gasoline exports are expected to remain low, leading to tight supply in the Asian market, market sources said.
China’s gasoline exports are likely to be capped at about 1 million mt in May, with oil majors eagerly awaiting the next round of export quota allocation, sources said.
“There was chatter that the new batch will be allocated early June, with some volume allocated to a few oil majors,” said a market source.
China’s gasoil, gasoline, and jet fuel exports slumped 51.7% year on year to 8.59 million mt over January-April despite weak domestic demand, as tight export quota availability limited outflows.
Philippines top gasoil destination
The Philippines was the top destination for China’s gasoil export in April. The exports surged 337.5% month on month to 327,000 mt in April but were still down 24.7% year on year.
The Philippines was also the top destination for China’s gasoil exports in the first four months of the year, with total volumes at 511,000 mt, down 73.3% year on year.
Overall outflows of China’s gasoil slumped 81.9% year on year to just 1.62 million mt over January-April, from 8.97 million mt a year earlier.
