China's oil refining and coking industry swung to a net loss of 96.1 billion yuan (US$14 billion) in the first eight months because of record crude costs and weak demand for the raw material produced from coal.

The loss compares with a profit of 32.3 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. Power producers had an 82 percent decline in profit in the first eight months because of high fuel prices, according to the bureau. Benchmark oil prices in New York gained about 20 percent between January and August. However, output of coke in China, the world's biggest maker, is expected to exceed demand this year.

(Shanghai Daily September 27, 2008)