Between 600,000 and 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude processing capacity will be shut between April and June, curbing refined products output, Reuters calculations and consultancies' data showed. Another factor is that Chinese exporters' profits have fallen, sapped by a more than 30% drop in Asian diesel cracks since mid-January. Domestic netbacks are more favourable as local retail prices have fallen less than international prices, a Singapore-based trader said.
Chinese refiners are also less inclined to use up their export quotas quickly as Beijing is expected to curb exports in 2023 versus 2022, Vortexa's Li added.
JET FUEL, GASOLINE March exports for jet fuel are also expected to decline, falling to an estimated 690,000-to-810,000 tonnes, the survey showed, an at least 50% decrease from February estimates as domestic demand rebounds. Weekly domestic air passenger numbers hovered near the 10-million mark in the week ended March 12, recovering to 82% of 2019 levels, Variflight data showed. China's gasoline exports were expected to be steady at between 300,000 tonnes and around 362,000 tonnes in March as domestic demand recovers, the survey showed. Last month's survey showed gasoline exports were likely to fall to eight-year lows in February. The traffic congestion index in major Chinese cities has surpassed the level of the same period last year, Baidu real-time traffic data showed. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Traffic congestion in major Chinese cities in the 2nd week of March China's weekly domestic air passenger number China's production loss from refinery maintenance Asia gasoline cracks Asia gasoil cracks ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Trixie Yap, Muyu Xu and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Florence Tan and Barbara Lewis)
