SINGAPORE, Sept. 20 (Reuters) – China’s exports of clean marine bunkers, or ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), fell 2% in August from a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday.

August’s exports of shipping fuel, which has a maximum sulfur content of 0.5% to comply with emission rules set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), were 1.59 million tonnes , up from 1.77 million tons the previous month, the General Administration of Customs data showed.

Exports from January to August increased 42% to 13.12 million tonnes.

China issued a third batch of VLSFO marine fuel export quotas earlier this month, bringing this year’s total to 11 million tonnes so far. Read more

Customs data released on Friday showed that general trade fuel oil imports rose further in August to 656,269 tonnes, their highest level so far this year.

Some independent refiners have been forced to resume purchasing fuel as a feedstock for their factories due to tightening crude oil import quotas.

Imports in bonded storage which include both high-sulfur and low-sulfur supplies also hit their highest level this year at 1.21 million tonnes, the data showed.

The table below shows China’s fuel oil imports and exports, all in metric tons.

The export column under the bonded storage trade largely captures China’s VLSFO bunkering sales along its coast.

Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Richard Pullin and Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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