PetroChina and Sinopec's combined salable oil product inventories settled at 4.60-mil mt in 13 major grain-producing areas on Sep 7, down by 3.29% from one month earlier, according to the latest data from the National Development & Reform Commission.
Among these stockpiles were 2.77-mil mt of gasoil, down by 1.55%.
These inventories fell as previously depressed demand was released, after the expectation of price markdowns disappeared. In addition, gasoil demand is usually strong in September and more buyers started to replenish stockpiles in early September.
Another reason for lower stockpiles was low operation rates in major refineries, which ran at 79.66% of capacity on average on Sep 8, close to the lowest level this year, C1 found.
It is possible for PetroChina and Sinopec to keep pushing up gasoil and gasoline prices in the near term. Both companies have rationed oil product supply in some areas this month.
The 13 major grain-producing areas comprise Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan provinces and Inner Mongolia.
