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Strategies & Market Trends : Natural Resource Stocks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (7782)	2/16/2004 1:01:31 PM
From: isopatch	Respond to of 108742

<China crude imports jump to new record in Jan SINGAPORE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - China's explosive oil demand growth extended into January with the world's second-biggest oil consumer importing a record monthly volume of crude. The official Chinese-language newspaper International Business Daily said China's crude imports jumped to 10.3 million tonnes (2.5 million barrels per day) in January, up 10 percent from December and 23.1 percent from January 2003. The imports were also a big jump from the 2003 average of 1.9 million bpd. However, Chinese oil officials said they were not surprised by the reports. "All the main coastal refineries were producing at full tilt in January. But we are still seeing normal inventories of refined oil products, meaning robust sales," said an east China-based official with China's largest refinery Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co Ltd The sharp rise in imports left stocks brimming at import terminals and a moderate build in crude inventories held by refineries, officials said. "Terminals have been operating at full capacity and tanks there are near full," said a crude trader with Sinopec , Asia's largest refiner which buys some 85 percent of China's crude imports. OUTPUT UP, STOCKS UP The Zhenhai official said the firm's crude stocks at end of January were 8-10 percent above December, but still within its normal commercial range to meet 10-15 days of production. "The outright inventories are higher, but we are having higher daily throughput," the official said. Zhenhai, like other main plants under state-refiner Sinopec Corp, has maximised output in February to meet an anticipated rebound in oil demand as industry resumes normal operations after the long Lunar New Year break at the end of January. China, which surprised analysts with rocketing demand growth last year, may have reached a plateau at around 5.75-5.8 million bpd in consumption, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. A government think-tank, the State Council Development and Research Centre, had forecast China's crude imports would reach a record of 96 million tonnes (1.97 million bpd) in 2004, China's Economic Daily reported on Friday. China is the fastest-growing major economy in the world and has taken over Japan as the world's second-biggest oil consumer after the United States. (1 tonne=7.5 barrels)> sg.biz.yahoo.com