Brent: China's weak economy & property debt implosion is weighing, but oil use holding up

<p>Chinese economic data has been disappointing. Last week we had:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.forexlive.com/news/china-july-industrial-production-37-yy-expected-45-retail-sales-25-48-20230815/" target="_blank" rel="follow" data-article-link="true">China July Industrial production +3.7% y/y (expected 4.5%) &amp; Retail sales +2.5% (4.8%)</a></li></ul><p>And the property sector is collapsing under the weight of debt, again:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.forexlive.com/news/chinas-2nd-largest-property-development-group-has-filed-bankruptcy-protection-in-the-us-20230817/" target="_blank" rel="follow" data-article-link="true">China's 2nd largest property development group has filed bankruptcy protection in the US</a></li><li><a href="https://www.forexlive.com/news/jp-morgan-warning-on-china-property-sector-developments-may-set-off-a-vicious-cycle-20230815/" target="_blank" rel="follow" data-article-link="true">JP Morgan warning on China property sector developments: "may set off a vicious cycle"</a></li></ul><p>And yet, analysts have argued that China's oil-consumption figures have held up. An RBC commodity strategist note says:</p><ul><li>while Chinese macro data has underwhelmed over recent weeks, end-use refined product data looks far from terrible</li><li>Chinese product inventories are tight and although diesel inventories have recently rebounded from the recent low, gasoline stocks have fallen for 13 consecutive weeks. Demand has been strong enough to keep product inventories subdued even with refinery utilization surging since exiting turnaround season in June</li></ul><p>Oil update, Brent:</p>

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.