In Depth: Rush to Expand China’s Oil Refining Capacity Raises Specter of Supply Glut
Heavy machinery pumps oil from an oilfield on Nov. 27 in Daqing, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province.
China’s oil refining capacity is growing rapidly, with projects involving tens of millions of tons of annual capacity scheduled to come online in the next few years, even as global giants cut back due to sluggish demand.
This raises the prospect that the country’s refining industry could follow in the footsteps of other sectors, such as the steel industry, that have long grappled with the problem of oversupply and seen restrictions on new projects come into force.
China Breaks Record for New Wind Power Capacity, Just Before Subsidies Expire
China installed a record 71.67 million kilowatts of new wind power capacity in 2020, according to official figures, more than half of it in December, as developers rushed to get projects up and running before a subsidy program expired.
Some 47.05 million kilowatts of new wind power capacity went online in December, nearly double the 24.62 million kilowatts installed in the first 11 months of the year, according to data released by the National Energy Administration (NEA) on Wednesday.
For the entire year, wind farm developers installed three times as much capacity as they did in 2019. “That is a shocking number,” a manager at a state-owned power group told Caixin, referring to the annual figure, which some in the industry had expected to be around 40 million kilowatts.
Detergent Giant Blue Moon Cleans Up in Hong Kong IPO
China’s biggest detergent maker,
Blue Moon, cleaned up in its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Wednesday with its shares closing 13% higher, spurred by significantly increased profits from Covid-19 demand for disinfectants.
Backed by private equity firm Hillhouse Capital Group, Blue Moon Group Holdings Ltd. raised HK$9.58 billion ($1.24 billion) in the IPO, selling 747 million shares at HK$13.16 apiece. That gives it a valuation of HK$85.5 billion.
The funds raised could increase to HK$11 billion if international underwriters, including BNP Paribas and Citigroup, exercise over-allocation options to issue up to 15% more of the total shares.