China’s diesel exports surge 42% in August amid global shortage

China's diesel exports jumped 42.1% year-on-year in August to 1.33 million tonnes, reaching their highest level in more than two years as Beijing continued to ease restrictions on fuel shipments imposed during the early months of the Middle East conflict, according to Chinese customs data released Friday.oilprice+1

Overall refined fuel exports from China totaled 6.01 million tonnes in August, a 12.7% annual increase that exceeded volumes seen before the closure of the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year. Jet fuel exports hit a record high, climbing 41.4% to 2.55 million tonnes, while gasoline exports fell 17.5% to 700,000 tonnes.reuters+2

From Export Ban to Boom

The August figures mark a sharp reversal from March, when Beijing ordered its top refiners to halt virtually all fuel exports days after the eruption of the Iran conflict disrupted crude oil flows through the Persian Gulf. The ban, which took effect around March 11, was nearly total, with exceptions only for select Southeast Asian buyers.bloomberg+2

China began gradually relaxing the restrictions over the summer. In July, Bloomberg reported that refiners including Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical had been granted new export permits. By August, authorities had authorized exports of 2.7 million metric tonnes of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↘ 1.81% reported on September 1 that refiners were expected to ship slightly more than 4 million tonnes in September.reuters+2

For the first eight months of 2026, however, total fuel exports remained 9.6% below year-earlier levels due to the spring ban. Diesel was an exception, with cumulative exports rising 5.9% to 4.84 million tonnes.oilprice+1

Declining Inventories Cloud the Outlook

The export surge comes as domestic fuel stockpiles are thinning. Gasoline inventories at state-owned energy majors fell 2.9% last week to their lowest level since 2022, while diesel stocks dropped 2.4% to a 15-month low, Bloomberg reported this week, citing data from Chinese commodity research firm JLC International.bloomberg+1

"With the domestic market tightening, we see an increasing risk that Beijing could restrict monthly clean product exports to around 1.2 million tons in the fourth quarter," Energy Aspects analyst Jiana Sun told Bloomberg.oilprice

Any new Chinese export curbs would compound an already strained global diesel market. Attacks on refineries in Russia and Saudi Arabia have disrupted supply in recent months, and U.S. diesel prices have risen above $6 a gallon, prompting Senate Majority Leader John Thune to say he is "open to exploring" a domestic export ban.agbull+1