China refined 37.67-mil mt of crude in March, with daily consumption down 3.4% on month, indicated data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Market sources ascribed the decline to turnarounds of refineries affiliated to state-owned oil giants Sinopec and PetroChina.
The March throughput was 8.02% higher than one year ago, according to the data.
Crude throughput of some newly-build refineries kept rising since the second half of 2010, market sources denoted. In addition, major refineries boosted crude runs in March amid expectations of hikes in government-regulated oil product prices, said the sources.
China accumulatively processed 111-mil mt of crude in the first quarter of this year, up 10.15% year-on-year, the data also indicated.
