China’s Petrochem Industry Developed Stably in May - NEWSDESK

China’s petroleum and chemical industry maintained stable development in May. Crude oil output was up 1% YoY to 16.23 million tons in May, natural gas output was up 13% YoY to 14.42 billion cubic meters, and LNG output was up 26.8% YoY to 969 000 tons. China processed 51.9 million tons (up 2.8% YoY) of crude oil, and produced 29.14 million tons (down 3.3% YoY) of oil products (gasoline, kerosene and diesel) in the same month. More specifically, output of diesel was down 10.7% YoY to 13.18 million tons, while that of gasoline was up 3.4% YoY to 11.68 million tons, and that of kerosene was up 4.9% YoY to 4.28 million tons.

Ethylene output was up 14.6% YoY to 1.71 million tons in May, and pure benzene output was up 2% YoY to 663 000 tons. Methanol output was up 2.2% YoY to 4 million tons, coatings output was up 3.8% YoY to 2 million tons, and chemical regent output was up 9.9% YoY to 1.97 million tons. As for others, sulfuric acid output was up 1.8% YoY to 6.82 million tons, while caustic soda output was down 3.1% YoY to 2.84 million tons, and calcium carbide output was down 0.6% YoY to 2.09 million tons. Output of polycrystalline silicon was down 25.3% YoY to 21 000 tons, that of synthetic resin was up 5.8% YoY to 7.57 million tons, that of synthetic fiber monomer (polymer) was up 8.4% YoY to 6.17 million tons, and that of cover tyres was up 0.2% YoY to 72.04 million pcs.

Operating revenue for 2019 of the petroleum and chemical industry is forecast to be up 6% YoY (chemical sector, up 5% YoY), annual profits to be basically the same as last year, and import and export value to be up 6% YoY. Annual apparent consumption of crude oil is forecast to be up 5% YoY, and that of natural gas to be up 12% YoY. Annual consumption of oil products is forecast to be up 1% YoY, with diesel consumption to be down 5% YoY. Annual consumption of chemical fertilizers may be slightly down compared with last year, that of synthetic materials is forecast to be up 6.5% YoY, that of ethylene to be up 9%, and that of caustic soda to be up 4% YoY.