China's fuel oil exports, mainly for marine fuel bunkering, softened in July after logging a surge in June, while imports rebounded to a four-month high, customs data showed on Thursday.
Export volumes totalled 1.87 million tonnes in July, or about 382,690 barrels per day, down 31 per cent from June, though 28 per cent higher than last July, based on General Administration of Customs data.
Volatile weather affected bunker demand to some extent due to the typhoon season.
However, prices of low-sulphur marine fuel at key China bunker ports hovered below those at regional hub Singapore, keeping export volumes largely supported in recent months.
Fuel oil imports, which typically head to refineries and also to the marine fuel blending pool, totalled 1.12 million tonnes for July, rebounding 14 per cent month-on-month but down 43 per cent year-on-year.
China's oil throughput also logged its first month-on-month rise in July since the Iran war began, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
