【Ferro-alloys.com】The feedstock imports for China's independent refineries fell by 19.6% on the month to a four-month low of 13.17 million mt in February, latest data compiled by S&P Global Commodity Insights showed on March 9.

Feedstock imports included crude, bitumen blend and fuel oil.

Pure crude imports, which utilize crude import quotas, fell by 26.1% from January to a six-month low of 11.3 million mt in February, the data showed.

The lower imports in February, was largely in line with market participants' expectation. The independent refineries -- mostly Shandong-based -- cut throughputs amid the Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics in Beijing, all of which fell in February.

The combined feedstock imports by Shandong-based independent refineries, as a result, fell by 23.3% on month to 8.29 million mt in February, a 23-month low.

As evidence, part of the pipelines from Dongjiakou port to independent refineries have been idled for some time due to the lack of imports, according to port sources.

After taking out bitumen blend and fuel oil, the crude imports for independent refineries in Shandong were even lower. The pure crude imports were down by 33.3% to just 6.5 million mt in February. It was the lowest since September 2018, when it was 6.4 million mt, according to the data.

In contrast to the drastic fall for crude imports, the imports of bitumen blend into Shandong ports increased by 72% on the month to around 1.79 million mt in February.

Shandong independent refineries have received about 8% less quotas at around 58 million mt in the first batch for 2022. As a result, so some have to switch to other feedstock as a supplement.

ZPC, Hengli less impacted
On the other hand, the imports by private Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery and Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical, were less impacted by the events in February.

Their combined imports were down by 12.1% on the month to 5.18 million mt in February, due mainly to less imports by Hengli. Hengli received 33.1% lower crude month on month at 1.39 million mt, while ZPC's crude arrivals was largely unchanged, at around 3.16 million mt, compared with 3.1 million mt in January.

Meanwhile, the greenfield Shenghong Petrochemical still has not fixed the trial run date yet. "The initial plan was to start up in March, but considering of the current volatile crude prices, it's still hard to fix," said a source with Shenghong.

S&P Global Commodity Insights collects information covering feedstocks imported by independent refineries in Shandong province, Tianjin, Zhoushan, Dalian, and Lianyungang, including 32 crude import quota holders, and other non-quota holders. These 32 refiners have been awarded a combined 99.7 million mt of crude quotas in 2022, accounting for 93% of the total allocations to the independent refining sector in 2022.

March imports seen higher
The expected imports for independent refineries in Shandong in March are likely to be slightly higher from February, sources said. This was expected as the events from February have ended, leaving the refinery operations unaffected, they added.

"Independent refineries have booked a little bit more for cargoes to arrive from March H2 onward, also the refinery maintenance will be over from that time," said an analyst with JLC, a local energy information provider.

Expected arrivals into Shandong's major ports, including Rizhao, Yantai and Qingdao port, are likely to be slightly higher from February, according to port sources.

Yantai port is likely to receive 1.7 million mt of crude in March, compared with 1.2 million mt in February, while imports in Rizhao and Qingdao will largely be stable for independent refineries this month.

• [Editor:zhaozihao]