The run rate of China's bitumen facilities recouped losses despite output cut by two major producers. The figure rose by three percentage points to 61% on Mar 11 from Feb 25, C1's latest survey showed.
PetroChina Liaohe refinery shut down visbreaking unit for turnaround as from early March, leading daily bitumen output drop by 36% to 2,300mt. Meanwhile, Sinopec Maoming refinery cut daily output by 9% to 2,000mt.
However, the output shut in has been more than offset by extra yield from refineries restarting operation. Sanshui Yihao Asphalt Co, Binyang Fuel Chemical under Befar Group and CNOOC Bitumen (Sichuan) Co have resumed bitumen production entering March, raising the supply by 3,300mt/day. Also, some other refineries slightly ramped up their operation rates as well.
In addition to Liaohe refinery, Gaofu refinery has maintenance plan in late March, C1's survey showed. On the other hand CNOOC Ningbo Daxie Petrochemical and Jiangsu PetroChina Xingneng Bitumen Co will restore bitumen output in the middle of this month, the survey indicated. In view of that, the overall operation rate is likely to go up further in the near future.
Nevertheless, the rising output may take a toll on the prices because there are signs of a downturn in demand in South and Yangtze River Delta of East China.
C1's survey covers 22 major bitumen producers, with an aggregate designed annual bitumen production capacity of 17.5-mil mt. The capacity accounts for around 78% of the country's total.
