China's August Refined Fuel Exports Rise 12.7% Year-on-Year; Jet Fuel Hits Monthly Record
Why It MattersAs Beijing continues unwinding export curbs imposed during the Iran-war supply scare, refiners are positioning to capture higher overseas margins even as year-to-date volumes stay below last year's pace.
What happened
China's exports of refined oil products rose 12.7% year-on-year in August, with jet fuel exports reaching a monthly record high, according to customs data released on Friday. Total refined oil product exports — including diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and marine fuel — reached 6.01 million metric tons in August, while cumulative exports for the first eight months of the year totalled 34.24 million tons, down 9.6% year-on-year.
Jet fuel exports surged 41.4% year-on-year to 2.55 million tons in August, setting a monthly record, though January–August jet fuel exports fell 14.4% year-on-year to 11.76 million tons. Diesel exports climbed 42.1% year-on-year to 1.33 million tons in August, the highest level since March 2024, with the first-eight-months total at 4.84 million tons, up 5.9% year-on-year. Gasoline exports stood at 700,000 tons in August, down 17.5% year-on-year but the highest since October last year, while January–August gasoline exports totalled 2.42 million tons, down 57.4% year-on-year.
China had restricted exports of refined products including diesel, gasoline and jet fuel in mid-March to safeguard domestic supplies amid risks to Middle East supply arising from the Iran war. Beijing began easing those restrictions in mid-July and is expected to continue relaxing export controls in September. Separately, China's LNG imports fell 17.8% year-on-year to 5.16 million tons in August, with first-eight-months imports at 38.86 million tons, down 6.8% year-on-year.
Industry impact & what to watch
This pattern belongs to the broader story of state-directed export controls being loosened once the supply risk that triggered them recedes. Beijing tightened refined product exports in mid-March over concerns that the Iran war could disrupt Middle East supply, then began easing those curbs in mid-July as that risk eased, and the August jet fuel and diesel figures show refiners responding quickly once quotas opened up.
How this segment works: Chinese refiners hold export quotas set by Beijing, and when those quotas tighten or loosen, the swing shows up almost immediately in monthly volumes even while year-to-date totals still lag the prior year — as seen here with jet fuel's record August month sitting alongside a 14.4% year-on-year decline for the January–August period. That gap between the monthly spike and the cumulative decline is the clearest signal that policy, not demand, is driving the swing.
The next marker to watch is whether Beijing continues relaxing export controls through September as expected, and whether jet fuel and diesel volumes hold at these elevated levels or prove to be a one-month catch-up after months of restriction. Overseas refining margins, which are cited as the incentive for Chinese refiners to keep exporting once quotas allow it, will be the practical test of whether this pace continues.
