BEIJING, April 18 (Reuters) - Chinese refinery
throughput surged to record levels in March as refiners stepped
up runs to capture strong export demand and build up inventories
ahead of planned maintenance.
Crude throughput was up 8.8% last month compared with a year
earlier, data showed on Tuesday.
Total refinery throughput reached 63.9 million tonnes, data
from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, equivalent to
14.9 million barrels per day (bpd).
(tonne = 7.3 barrels for crude oil)
(Reporting by Andrew Hayley; Editing by Christopher Cushing)