Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner, is exporting 60,000-70,000 tonnes of gas oil for July due to slower demand in China, traders said on Thursday.
Sinopec had switched to a net gas oil importer from net exporter early this year due to tight domestic supply caused primarily by power shortages.
"Domestic demand is not very good. Sinopec has to export the cargoes," one trader said.
The spot cargoes with a sulphur content of 0.5 percent were done both on free-on-board and cost-and-freight basis, traders said. Current gas oil supplies in China are not as tight as before, though China is facing its worst power crunch in two decades, as local refiners are cranking up production, traders said.
The Chinese government is also tightening lending policies to cool down red-hot investment, affecting demand for gas oil in the construction sector, they said.
An annual fishing ban and a clampdown on trucks overloading also led to a cut-back in Chinese gas oil requirements, traders said.
Reflecting the lower demand, Sinopec's July imports of 0.2 percent sulphur gas oil stood at 60,000 tonnes, much lower than June imports of 150,000 tonnes.
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