China exporting fuel at unprecedented pace

Singapore

AFTER supplying the world with everything from Victoria's Secret lingerie to iPhones and Barbie dolls, China is now producing fuel that's finding its way to pumps across the globe.

The Asian manufacturing giant is turning a record amount of crude into refined products and sending some of it abroad at an unprecedented pace. That includes jet fuel sent to Europe last year, petrol that went to Nicaragua in May and another cargo currently headed to the Panama Canal. Traders say more shipments may be coming.

Burgeoning output from processors including privately held plants known as teapots is swelling supply as the domestic economy cools. Meanwhile, higher US prices and weakening freight rates are making it more profitable to ship the fuel overseas, with delays in refining projects bolstering demand in Latin Ame…