Pacific Promise

06 Nov 2015: Refining capacity in Asia has been growing rapidly for many years. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of this growth took place in China, which more than doubled its refining capacity over the last 10 years. The other significant growth engine in Asia has been India. However, the impact of these two refining powerhouses on the product tanker market has (so far) been very different. While a significant portion of India’s new refining output has been exported into world markets, boosting demand for all sizes of product tankers, China’s growth has been predominantly focused on satisfying rapidly expanding domestic demand. However, the future may look different from the past and product tanker owners are likely to benefit from continued growth in Asia’s clean product trades. Download here