Refiners in China are poised to slash crude imports and throughput over the coming months, as the nation’s battle to contain the spread of coronavirus hits product consumption, with transportation, manufacturing and industrial activities all slowing down. Industry experts and market analysts have recently revised down their forecasts for China’s throughput in February and March by 600,000-1,000,000 b/d, with crude oil imports set to slow down accordingly in April and May. “We conservatively cut 600,000 b/d from the previous projection for China’s throughput in the coming two months, as demand for transportation fuels will slump due to travel bans, as well as extending the Chinese New Year holiday,” one Beijing-based analyst with an international trading […]