China’s crude oil processing surged in June, with throughput climbing 8.5% year-on-year as state-owned refiners ramped up operations and saw margins rebound amid falling feedstock costs.
The world’s second-largest oil consumer refined 62.24 million metric tons of crude last month—equivalent to roughly 15.15 million barrels per day (bpd), according to figures released Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics.
On a daily basis, refinery runs grew 8.8% compared with May, reaching their highest level since September 2023, according to Reuters estimates. The robust output comes as state-owned refineries increased utilization rates to 79.95% in June, representing a 5.3-point rise from the previous month, data from Sublime China Information showed.
Maintenance activity in June affected capacity totaling 107.7 million tons per year, marking a reduction of 22.2 million tons from May, consultancy OilChem reported.
As a result, profits at state-owned refiners soared to 1,121 yuan ($156.40) per ton in June—an 83% jump from May and 155% higher than a year earlier. Lower crude procurement costs, which dropped 306 yuan per ton, combined with rising product prices, were behind the sharp margin increase, according to OilChem.
In contrast, independent refiners based in Shandong earned a profit of 355 yuan per ton from importing and processing crude—down 6.2% month-over-month—as their feedstock costs rose more quickly than product prices, squeezing margins.
Looking ahead, Chinese consultancy JLC forecasts average operating rates at state-controlled refineries to climb further in the third quarter, potentially hitting 83.5%, up 5.13 percentage points from the previous quarter and modestly higher than 2024 levels.
On the supply side, China’s domestic crude production edged up 1.4% to 18.2 million tons (4.43 million bpd) in June, with first-half output totaling 108.48 million tons—a 1.3% increase year-on-year.
Natural gas production also gained, jumping 4.6% in June to 21.2 billion cubic meters, and 5.8% over the first six months of the year, according to NBS data.
Earlier this morning, the National Bureau of Statistics announced that China’s economy expanded by 5.2% in the second quarter of 2025. The result edged past economists’ projections surveyed by Reuters, who had anticipated growth of 5.1%.
Although this shows a slight moderation from the 5.4% expansion recorded in the first quarter, second-quarter growth still surpassed Beijing’s full-year GDP target of 5%.
Looking at consumer activity, growth in retail sales decelerated in June, rising 4.8% year-over-year, down from May’s 6.4% increase. This was also below the 5.4% gain forecast by economists polled by Reuters. On a brighter note, industrial output outperformed expectations, climbing 6.8% compared to the previous year and handily beating the consensus estimate of 5.7%.
