SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--China’s government has raised the price of diesel and gasoline by yuan (CNY) 1,000/tonne ($145/tonne) and aviation kerosene by CNY1,500/tonne beginning midnight Friday Beijing time on the back of soaring crude values, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Thursday.
 
The rise would ease the burden of fuel subsidies on the government, which had kept the price of refined oil products unchanged since November despite crude spiralling to near $140/bbl, market sources said.

The country’s retail benchmark price for gasoline and diesel would rise to CNY6,980/tonne and CNY6,520/tonne respectively, a source at the NDRC said, adding the average retail price for gasoline and diesel would be raised to CNY7,540/tonne and CNY7,040/tonne.

The price of aviation kerosene would increase by CNY1,500/tonne to CNY7,450/tonne on an EXW (ex-works) basis, the source added.

However, prices of liquefied and natural gas would remain unchanged, the source said.

In order to relieve the impact of the price hike, the government would provide subsidies to related industries such as fishing, forestry and transport, it said.

Shares of major refiners Sinopec and Shanghai Petrochemical had risen by 10% and 9% respectively on the news at 15:45 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange compared with their closing price on the Hong Kong exchange, while the price of US crude fell $2/bbl following the announcement.