Sinochem closes third refinery in China due to low margins

A Chinese court has declared the bankruptcy of Shandong Changyi Petrochemical, one of the refineries owned by the Sinochem group.
This decision comes after months of uncertainty surrounding the future of several refineries located in Shandong province, China’s main refining center.
Two other refineries belonging to the group, Shandong Huaxing Petrochemical Group and Zhenghe Group Co Ltd, have also been declared bankrupt in recent days.
The combined capacity of the three sites is 380,000 barrels per day, representing around 3% of national refinery output.
However, weak demand and steadily rising crude oil prices have made operations at these sites unprofitable, prompting Sinochem to temporarily shut down some of these units before their final closure.
The Group has not yet specified the fate of the assets of the three refineries.