South Korea's fuel exports may plunge 44pc in second half
Monday, 27 July 2009
SEOUL, July 26 (Bloomberg): South Korea, Asia's biggest exporter of oil products, may ship 44 percent less in the second half of this year after the global recession eroded returns from turning crude into diesel and jet fuel.
Fuel exports may fall to $10.6 billion between July and December from $18.9 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said today in an e-mailed statement. Volume may drop 13 percent to 162 million barrels. Exports account for half of refiners' revenue in South Korea.
Global refining margins, or profit from making fuels, declined 66 percent from a year earlier to $4.98 a barrel in the second quarter, according to BP Plc data. The lower margins have led South Korean refiners, including SK Energy Co., the biggest South Korean fuel producer, to cut crude run rates to 79.5 percent of total capacity in June from 87 percent in January, according to the government.
New supplies from India, China and Vietnam will increase competition in global markets, the ministry said.
Reliance Industries Ltd., India's biggest company by market value, started processing crude at a new export-oriented, 580,000 barrel-a-day refinery on Dec. 25. China National Offshore Oil Corp., that country's biggest offshore petroleum explorer, started operation of its Huizhou oil refinery in May.
South Korean refiners exported $9.4 billion of oil products in the first half of this year, down from $18.1 billion a year earlier, the ministry said.
Fuel exports may fall to $10.6 billion between July and December from $18.9 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said today in an e-mailed statement. Volume may drop 13 percent to 162 million barrels. Exports account for half of refiners' revenue in South Korea.
Global refining margins, or profit from making fuels, declined 66 percent from a year earlier to $4.98 a barrel in the second quarter, according to BP Plc data. The lower margins have led South Korean refiners, including SK Energy Co., the biggest South Korean fuel producer, to cut crude run rates to 79.5 percent of total capacity in June from 87 percent in January, according to the government.
New supplies from India, China and Vietnam will increase competition in global markets, the ministry said.
Reliance Industries Ltd., India's biggest company by market value, started processing crude at a new export-oriented, 580,000 barrel-a-day refinery on Dec. 25. China National Offshore Oil Corp., that country's biggest offshore petroleum explorer, started operation of its Huizhou oil refinery in May.
South Korean refiners exported $9.4 billion of oil products in the first half of this year, down from $18.1 billion a year earlier, the ministry said.