China issues additional LSFO, refined fuel quotas for 2021

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China has issued new export quotas for the export of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) used to power ships and for other refined fuels such as gasoline and diesel for the rest of 2021, according to a trading source and document reviewed by Reuters on Thursday.

Under the new quotas, 1 million tonnes of LSFO can be exported while 1.579 million tonnes of refined fuels can be shipped, according to the source and the document issued by the Ministry of Commerce.

The new issue brings this year's total permits for refined fuel exports to about 38.6 million tonnes, down one-third from last year's quotas.

The document did not break down the specific products allowed to be exported under the refined fuel quotas, which normally cover diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.

The new LSFO quotas raise the total allowances for LSFO to 12 million tonnes for 2021, up from 10 million tonnes last year.

The refined fuel quotas were issued to state-run China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and Sinochem Group, as well as private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp, the document shows.

The LSFO quotas were allotted to CNPC, Sinopec and CNOOC.

China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The table below gives details of the third batch of LSFO and refined fuel export quotas for 2021. Figures are in tonnes.

Low-sulphur fuel oil Refined oil products

CNPC 330,000 430,000

Sinopec 580,000 510,000

CNOOC 90,000

Sinochem 259,000

ZPC 380,000

Total 1,000,000 1,579,000

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu in Singapore and Muyu Xu in Beijing; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger)