China’s Guangzhou no longer fuel oil hub

Fuel oil trading in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province and once the fuel oil hub for China’s largest fuel oil trading houses, has dried up as power utilities switch to other feedstocks such as coal and LNG. Statistics from the Chinese General Administration of Customs revealed that only 59,882 metric tons of fuel oil was imported via the port of Guangzhou in April. Last year, total shipment of fuel oil via Guangzhou was 1.1 million metric tons, versus 3.08 million metric tons at its peak in 2004. (May 30, 2011)