The average utilization rate at China’s independent refineries in eastern Shandong province is likely to fall further in February, with several refineries scheduled to shut for maintenance, while narrowing domestic refining margins amid a recent spike in crude oil and feedstock prices prompt the fuel producers to reassess their near-term output plans. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now In January, the refineries cut crude throughputs by about one percentage point on the month to 74.3%, according to a survey by local information provider JLC. The lower run rate was attributed to a few refinery shutdowns, including Haiyou Petrochemical, Kenli Petrochemical and Chengda New Energy. The 3.5 million mt/year Haiyou Petrochemical has shut its entire plant in end-January for an overall maintenance, with a restarting data unfixed as yet. Prior to this, Kenli Petrochemical and Chengda New Energy also had shut for […]