China's fuel oil exports, mostly made up of low-sulphur fuel oil for marine bunkering, climbed to a three-month high in March, official data showed on Monday, while imports fell.
The export volumes in March rose 57 per cent to 1.93 million tonnes (about 395,000 barrels per day) month-on-month and were up by 10 per cent in the year-ago period.
Prices of bunker fuel at Chinese ports dipped below Singapore prices towards the end of the month, drawing some demand over to China, trade sources said.
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)