China has approved an increase in refined fuel exports for May to regions other than Hong Kong, two trading sources said on Wednesday, though levels remain below last year's average.
The world's largest oil importer will allow 500,000 tonnes of refined fuel exports next month, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter.
That is up from estimates from ship-tracking company Vortexa of April exports of about 320,000 tonnes.
Beijing has clamped down on its fuel exports since March to safeguard the domestic market from crude and fuel supply disruptions caused by closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Australia, Bangladesh, Maldives and Myanmar are expected to receive fuels, with the Chinese Government designating the volumes and destinations, the two sources said.
The National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last year, China exported an average of about 1.6 million tonnes per month of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to regions outside Hong Kong, Kpler ship-tracking data showed.
The small increases in shipments were a result of lobbying by state refiners to resume some overseas sales to capture strong export margins for all three fuels as surging crude costs and lagging Chinese pump fuel prices weigh on domestic processing margins, the sources said.
(Reporting by Trixie Yap, Chen Aizhu and Siyi Liu in Singapore; Additional reporting by Sam Li in Beijing; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger)