Sinopec's refineries are estimated to process 17.5-17.6-mil mt of crude in total in July, with daily consumption down 3.66% month-on-month to about 567,000mt, the lowest level this year, C1's research showed.
The decline is because of some refinery maintenance for this month. Qilu Petrochemical in Shandong is estimated to cut crude throughput by 7.5% in July, as it plans to start maintenance of a 1.4-mil-mt/yr delayed coker in the second half of the month. Sinopec Qingdao refinery is still under 50-day turnaround that began on Jun 20, and Maoming Petrochemical in South China is expected to reduce crude throughput by 6.4% owing to maintenance of a 2.5-mil-mt/yr crude distillate unit that is scheduled to begin on Jul 20.
The drops will be in part offset by higher crude throughput by Sinopec Qingdao Petrochemical, which is estimated to boost crude throughput by 32% this month, after maintenance of a 5-mil-mt/yr CDU.
C1 reported previously that Sinopec planned to process 54.5 mil mt of crude in the third quarter, with daily throughput down 1.7% from its actual daily throughput in the second quarter, or down 3.9% from its planned daily throughput in the second quarter.
Sinopec's crude throughput is expected to rebound in August when Qingdao refinery is back on line, though Jiujiang Petrochemical and Luoyang Petrochemical are scheduled to start maintenance in late August.
C1's research involves 35 refineries under Sinopec, with a combined crude processing capacity of 260-mil mt per year.
