China plans to ban coal imports starting July 1 at ports that were set up through approvals by provincial authorities, the latest move by President Xi Jinping’s government to exert stricter control on the market. SEE MORE The spot European propane market has struggled to compete for petrochemical interest at the tail end of June, as naphtha prices have been dragged lower by a weakening crude market and propane cargo prices were supported by a closed arbitrage from the US Gulf Coast to Europe. SEE MORE China National Petroleum Corp has suspended sales of fuel to North Korea over concerns the state-owned oil company won't get paid, as pressure mounts on Pyongyang to rein in its nuclear and missile programmes SEE MORE Asia’s toluene price movements in the third quarter of the year will be heavily influenced by demand and supply developments in China as well as the operating rates of downstream toluene disproportionation (TDP) units in northeast Asia, according to market sources. SEE MORE Vietnam will continue importing fuels given an annual shortage of about 0.8 million tons of petrol and 1.8 million tons of diesel oil (DO) in the next five years. SEE MORE