China to Slow Petrol Imports

FT via Naked Capitalism, we are alerted to the fact that China is to stop its massive purchases of refined petroleum products. Now that the Olympics are over (and the stockpiles are full) the Big Buy is coming to an end.

Quick! Snatch up that marked-down Hummer, stat!

China’s state-owned oil companies are likely to stop imports of refined products such as diesel and petrol next month after a nine-month buying spree that has left stockpiles overflowing, one of Asia’s largest refiners said.
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Since late last year, the two Chinese state-owned refiners had been importing increasing amounts of diesel, peaking at 960,000 tonnes in June, and the country be­came a net petrol importer for the first time in May.
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However, much of the imported petrol and diesel has been stockpiled rather than consumed.

“The state refiners’ stockpiles are so full that they have been reselling the stuff,” FPCC said.