Yuhuang chemical, Shenchi chemical, Zhenghe group and Fuyu chemical plant shut down, some units of Jingbo petrochemical, Jincheng petrochemical and HSBC Petrochemical Company were under pressure, Wantong petrochemical and Haihua Petrochemical Company were shut down for maintenance & hellip; Affected by the epidemic situation, from the end of January, Shandong Underground refining began to reduce the load operation. After the middle of February, it was a large area of production and maintenance, and most refineries reduced the starting load by 25% - 50%. According to the latest statistics, the average operating load of Shandong refining enterprises fell to 36.9% in late February, a new low in five years.
Wang Yanting, manager of jinlianchuang's oil products department, said that in general, it would be appropriate for local refineries to maintain their inventory for 2-3 days, but the current inventory of local gasoline and diesel refineries is as high as 10 days. Under the heavy inventory pressure, Shandong refining faces the risk of large-scale shutdown.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, due to the interruption of logistics, the decrease of people's travel and other reasons, the terminal demand of domestic refined oil has been bleak, the retail price has been reduced for two consecutive times, and the price of gasoline and diesel has been reduced by 835 yuan and 805 yuan per ton respectively. Due to the obstruction of export and sales, the superposed first quarter is the high point of traditional inventory, the pressure of product inventory is increasing, and refineries are forced to reduce production load and inventory pressure. It is understood that the overall operating rate of refineries in large-scale central enterprises is 15 percentage points lower than that before the Spring Festival, and the operating rate of refineries in Shandong Province is about 28 percentage points lower.
&"Our crude oil processing volume has decreased, on the one hand, due to the reduction of product demand, on the other hand, due to the cross provincial logistics constraints, resulting in Limited sales areas. In the past, products could be sold to the northwest, but now they can only be sold in the province, and the logistics efficiency between cities in the province has also been reduced. &"A person in charge of refining in Shandong is helpless.
&"Due to the weak market demand, the current inventory of the refinery is relatively high, and the storage capacity is almost unable to fit the products, so the operating rate and processing volume can only be reduced. &Ding Xu, an analyst with Longzhong information, said that many refineries are in a state of shutdown or closed-circuit circulation, and the crude oil processing volume of other refineries that have not been shut down is basically at the lowest level.
According to the tracking data of jinlianchuang, 80% of more than 40 independent refineries in Shandong have reduced the crude oil processing volume, and the operation rate of atmospheric and vacuum distillation continued to decline from more than 70% in early January to less than 40% in late February, a new low in five years. Some refineries were forced to choose temporary shutdown or early maintenance to control inventory by reducing load and production, and many refineries shut down catalytic, coking or hydrogenation units, resulting in rapid reduction of gasoline and diesel production.
The decrease of sales volume also brings certain capital pressure to refining and chemical enterprises. &"When market sales decrease and product inventory increases, the whole cash flow decreases. Although the operating rate has been reduced, the raw materials purchased according to the normal operating rate have been delivered continuously. The payment for goods must be paid, and the capital occupation will be more. &The person in charge of the local refining enterprise said frankly.
The person in charge's biggest wish is to control the epidemic as soon as possible and restore normal economic order. In his view, only a warmer economy can drive oil demand and help refineries out of their predicament.
&"The private petrochemical industry is in the critical period of transformation and the initial stage of integration. In order to achieve the sustainable development of the industry, it is urgent for governments at all levels, finance, banks, etc. to give full support in tax, loan and other aspects. &According to Wang Yanting.
The good news is that with the gradual release of traffic control in the near future, the logistics and transportation are becoming more active. In addition, the current price of refined oil products has been at a relatively low level, and the intention of middlemen to copy the bottom and replenish goods has been enhanced. The proportion of diesel production and sales in many refineries has exceeded 100%. The diesel inventory has started to fall and the ex factory price has picked up.
In contrast, the gasoline market is still weak, resulting in high gasoline inventory in the refining enterprises and insufficient driving force for price rise. Industry experts predict that the pattern of light supply and demand of gasoline and diesel may improve in March.