China’s independent refiners are set to push their runs even higher in July, extending the trend seen in June when throughput rose to five-month highs, as strong driving demand during the holiday season and increased appetite for cooling provide a robust earning opportunity. Not registered? Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now In addition, a fall in domestic product prices is also expected to lift demand, prompting refiners to ensure that they keep most of their units running in the month. Only one refinery will remain offline in July, sources said. “Run rates will likely hover above 70% for most time of the month,” an analyst in Shandong said. Data from local energy information provider JLC showed that the average utilization rate at Shandong independent refineries recovered to around 68.9% in June, a five-month high. It was up by eight percentage points from May. […]