China’s petroleum and chemical industry developed stably in 2019, overcoming bigger downward macroeconomic pressure and various risks. In detail, operating revenue was up 1.3% YoY to RMB12.27 trillion in 2019. By sectors classified by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, the chemical sector achieved RMB6.89 trillion (down 0.9% YoY) in operating revenue, and the refining sector saw a growth of 4.6% YoY to RMB4.02 trillion. The revenue was up 2.4% YoY to RMB1.1 trillion in the petroleum and natural gas exploration and production sector.
Combined profits of the domestic petroleum and chemical industry reached RMB668.37 billion in 2019, down 14.9% YoY, shrinking 2.7 percentage points from Jan-Nov decrease. Profits of the refining sector fell 42.1% YoY to RMB94.7 billion, but the decrease was down 7.1 percentage points from the first 11 months of 2019.
Among segments under the chemical sector, the rubber product segment saw the highest profit growth of 9.7% YoY, followed by the coatings (pigment) segment (8.1%) and the specialty chemicals segment (1.4%). Profits of the chemical pesticide segment remained unchanged. However, profits of the coal chemical segment plummeted 136.5% YoY, higher than 38% in the fertilizer segment and 30.5% in the basic chemical raw materials manufacturing segment. As for others, profits were down 22.5% YoY in the chemical mining segment and down 7% YoY in the synthetic materials segment.
Combined output of crude oil and natural gas was up 4.7% YoY to 347 million tons in 2019, and that of major chemicals was up around 4.6% YoY. In detail, annual output of crude oil was up 0.8% YoY to 191 million tons, natural gas output was up 9.8% YoY to 173.62 billion cubic meters, and LNG output was up 15.6% YoY to 11.65 million tons. China processed 652 million tons (up 7.6% YoY) of crude oil in 2019, and produced 360 million tons (up 0.2% YoY) of oil products (gasoline, kerosene and diesel). More specifically, output of diesel was down 4% YoY to 166 million tons, while that of gasoline was up 1.9% YoY to 141 million tons, and that of kerosene was up 10.6% YoY to 52.73 million tons.
Ethylene output was up 9.4% YoY to 20.52 million tons in 2019, while pure benzene output was down 2.1% YoY to 8.62 million tons. Methanol output was up 0.4% YoY to 49.36 million tons, coatings output was up 2.6% YoY to 24.39 million tons, and chemical reagent output was up 12% YoY to 23.61 million tons. As for others, sulfuric acid output was up 1.2% YoY to 89.36 million tons, and caustic soda output was up 0.5% YoY to 34.64 million tons. Output of sodium carbonate was up 7.6% YoY to 28.88 million tons, that of synthetic resin was up 9.3% YoY to 95.74 million tons, that of synthetic fiber monomer (polymer) was up 9.9% YoY to 74.06 million tons, and that of cover tyres was up 1.9% YoY to 842 million pcs.
Performance of the domestic petroleum and chemical industry is forecast to show an upward trend in 2020 considering factors such as macro economy, production, tendency of price, structural adjustment and coronavirus outbreak. Operating revenue for 2020 of the petroleum and chemical industry is forecast to be up 5% YoY (chemical sector, up 7% YoY), annual profits to be up 8% YoY, and import and export value to be up 3% YoY.
Apparent consumption of crude oil is forecast to be up 5.5% YoY in 2020, and that of natural gas to be up 7% YoY. Annual consumption of oil products is forecast to be up 3% YoY, with diesel consumption to be basically the same as 2019. Annual consumption of chemical fertilizers may remain unchanged or decrease slightly compared with 2019, that of synthetic materials is forecast to be up 7% YoY, that of ethylene to be up 8% YoY, and that of caustic soda to be up 3% YoY.