China issues second batch of naphtha import quotas

BEIJING/NEW DELHI: China has issued a second batch of 2026 naphtha import quotas, likelyat a lower volume than the first batch for this year, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, after the US-Israeli war on Iran curbed imports of the petrochemical feedstock.

The second batch of quotas totalled 9.9 million tons (~89 million barrels), bringing the total 2026 import quota to 21.7 million tons for 11 companies, the sources said.

However, unlike the first batch, PetroChina was not allocated any volume in the second batch, one of the two sources said. The company had an allocation of 100,000 tons of naphtha import quota in the first batch.

State-owned major Sinopec received 2 million tons of naphtha import quota in the second batch, one of the two sources said.

The sources declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Ministry of Commerce, Sinopec and PetroChina did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Naphtha is used as feedstock in crackers to produce petrochemicals, and Beijing tightly controls import volumes, typically issuing company-specific allocations annually without public announcement.

China imported 5.34 million tons of naphtha in the first four months, up 20 percent from the same period last year, thanks to a surge in January and February, when imports reached 3.86 million tons, double the volume recorded in the same period a year earlier.

However, imports in March and April slumped, with shipments from Middle Eastern countries down 52 percent on year during the two-month period after the war broke out.

The war has blocked the Strait of Hormuz for more than three months, disrupting the waterway through which more than half of Asian naphtha supplies normally pass.