Asia's top oil refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, better known as Sinopec Corp, recorded a 6.9% decline in net income for 2022, as Beijing's COVID-19 curbs weakened fuel and chemicals demand, as per Reuters.
Sinopec said its net profit last year amounted to 66.3 billion yuan (USD9.65 billion), based on Chinese accounting standards, versus 2021's 71.21 billion yuan, but was still the third-highest in a decade thanks to higher oil and gas prices.
"For 2022 due to multiple factors, Chinese demand for natural gas, petrochemicals and refined oil products (was) lacklustre," Sinopec said.
China's rigid COVID measures hammered transportation fuel consumption. Sinopec recorded a 11% in gasoline fuel sales and 18.4% decline in aviation fuel sales last year versus 2021. Sales for chemical fibres tumbled 18.1%.
Sinopec reported 4% growth in sales of diesel fuel, thanks to a government policy shift towards late 2022 to boost refined fuel exports.
We remind, Sinopec Corp announced that it has completed trial runs at a 1-MMtpy ethylene plant in the southern Chinese province of Hainan that will boost exports. The facility is part of a 28.6 B-yuan (USD4.15 B) complex built at the site and is the second major petrochemical plant starting this year after a similar-sized facility was announced last week by PetroChina in Guangdong province.
mrchub.com