Chinese exports of fuel and metals in June were well ahead of where they were a year earlier, another sign of sluggish demand from the country’s industrial and property sectors.
Overseas shipments of diesel — a workhorse fuel used in factories, on construction sites and for transport — surged 180% from a year earlier, according to official data released Thursday. Copper exports jumped 187% to a record, while alumina sales were up 109% to a two-year high.
The sluggish economy also fed through into oil imports, which were down almost 11% on a year-on-year basis, and 1.1% lower from May amid seasonal maintenance at refineries and lackluster downstream consumption. Apparent oil demand in China fell 8.1% from a year earlier to around 13.7 million barrels a day in June, Bloomberg calculations show.
Diesel exports — which will likely pressure the profits of refineries in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan — were down 23% from May. The month-on-month decline was due to a fall in export margins, Mysteel OilChem said in a note.
It was a more mixed picture in agriculture. Corn imports fell 50% from a year earlier and sugar imports were down 32%. Meanwhile, purchases of wheat and soybeans rose 44% and 11%, respectively.
On the Wire
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