China's May Refined Oil Exports Rose from April, Australia Received Agreed Volume
By Reuters | 20 Jun, 2026

Refined oil product exports outside of Hong Kong and Macau rose 40% from April but were still 69% lower than last May due to restrictions to protect domestic supplies.

China's May gasoline, diesel and jet fuel exports rose from April to major destinations in Southeast and South Asia, but were still significantly less than a year earlier due to export restrictions imposed over the Iran war to safeguard domestic supply.

Customs data released on Saturday showed that refined oil product exports outside of Hong Kong and Macau rose 40% from April, though they slumped 69% from the same period last year.

The export curbs do not cover the refuelling of international ships and planes, or exports to Hong Kong and Macau, where levels were steady.

China's gasoline exports dropped to a decade low in April to just over 23,400 metric tons and slightly improved in May to 32,838 tons, with Myanmar being the only destination apart from Hong Kong and Macau, receiving 8,405 tons of gasoline from China.

Diesel exports, including biodiesel, in May rose 53% from April, with volumes exported excluding Hong Kong and Macau more than doubling to 216,196 tons, including 62,772 tons to Bangladesh and 28,700 tons to Sri Lanka.

Diesel exports to Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand totalled 77,079 tons.

Australia received 20,255 tons as the only non-Asian importer of diesel.

Biodiesel exports rose 11.5% from April to 43,636 tons in May, with the Netherlands and Belgium as the major importers.

It remains unclear if Beijing's export restrictions cover biodiesel, mainly made from used cooking oil.

Excluding Hong Kong and Macau, jet fuel exports slumped 61% to 499,388 tons, but rose 20% from April. Chinese jet fuel exports include both aircraft refuelling aand cargo exports.

Vietnam received the largest share, at more than 97,900 tons, and Australia received 79,000 tons of the agreed volume after discussions between the two countries in May.

(Reporting by Sam Li and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)