Sinopec refinery utilisation drops, but chemical exports rise due to Iran war

China's Sinopec on Wednesday said its refinery and petrochemical utilisation rates dropped in the first quarter as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran disrupted feedstock supplies, but its chemical exports are set for strong growth this year.



Sinopec, the world's biggest refiner by capacity, cut refinery utilisation rates between January and March by 7.6 percentage points on an annualised basis to average at around 83%, the company said at an earnings briefing.



Its ethylene utilisation rate stood at 89% in the first quarter, 1.5 percentage points lower than a year earlier, a company executive said.



The war on Iran, which started on February 28, has led to weeks of near-full closure of the Hormuz Strait, through which about 20% of the world's oil and gas flows, disrupting crude oil and petrochemicals feedstock supplies to many Asian refiners.



However, the conflict also created an opportunity for the refining giant to boost exports of chemical products, which it expects to rise 26% to 3.65 million tons in 2026.