Feedstock imports for China’s independent refineries rose by 1.8% month on month to 3.71 million b/d, or 15.7 million mt in May, as the refiners stockpiled bitumen blend ahead of the introduction of a new consumption tax on the fuel, data collected by S&P Global Platts showed on June 4. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now Bitumen blend imports jumped 15.2% month on month to hit a record high of 2.64 million mt in May. Around 1.935 million mt, or 73.3% of total bitumen blend imports were discharged in the second half of May. This came after the government on May 14 announced the introduction of the new consumption tax starting from June 12. The rest of crude imports also gained 432,000 mt from April. The increased inflow boosted crude inventories at major ports — Dongjiakou, Qingdao, Rizhao, Yantai, Dongying, Laizhou and Longkou […]