Daily Times

Tesla (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk is expected to visit China this week, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in what would be his first trip to the country in three years.

Musk is expected to meet senior Chinese officials and visit Tesla’s Shanghai plant, two of the sources said. It was not immediately clear who Musk would meet and what they would discuss. The people with knowledge of the trip declined to be named as the matter is private. Tesla and China’s State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters reported in March that Musk was planning a trip to China and seeking a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang as early as April, with the exact timing subject to Li’s availability. China is Tesla’s second-largest market after the United States, and its Shanghai plant is the electric carmaker’s largest production hub.

Musk also owns the social media platform Twitter, which is banned in China, although some people access it via virtual private networks (VPNs). The trip would mark Musk’s first in China since he set the internet abuzz by dancing on stage during an event at Tesla’s Shanghai factory in early 2020. It would also come at a time when Tesla is grappling with multiple issues, including intensifying competition with Chinese automakers that are exporting their China-made electric vehicles as demand in the world’s largest auto market weakens.

Tesla has not yet given any update on its plans to increase output by 450,000 vehicles a year at its Shanghai plant, although it said in April it would build a factory in Shanghai to produce Megapack energy storage products. The company has submitted plans to local authorities to expand the capacity for producing powertrains at the Shanghai plant to 1.75 million units annually. China’s state planner has been struggling with a capacity glut in its auto industry with more than 100 players and has been cautious about approving new production capacity. Musk told CNBC earlier this month that “there are some constraints on our ability to expand in China.” He added: “It’s not a demand issue.”

In the same interview, Musk said tensions between the United States and China “should be a concern for everyone.” Tesla is building a plant in Mexico expected to produce a lower-cost electric car built on its next-generation platform. Saudi Arabia maximises profit by refining, exporting imported Russian diesel Leading crude exporter Saudi Arabia is maximising refining profits by importing unprecedented amounts of cheap Russian diesel and in turn shipping record volumes to Singapore, where the fuel can achieve higher margins, shiptracking data shows.

Russia has had to divert the volumes it sold to Europe, previously its dominant product market, after the European Union banned oil product imports in February as part of its response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. That allowed state oil giant Saudi Aramco to increase its May imports to Singapore to record levels and cash in on better arbitrage netbacks in the east than Europe, driven by tighter Asian supply during the maintenance season, traders and analysts said. “Diesel supply in Singapore is relatively tight due to regional refinery maintenance, while Middle East supplies are rising, which may create spot arbitrage opportunities for traders to move the cargoes (to Singapore),” Vortexa’s head of APAC analysis Serena Huang said. Saudi Arabia will import up to 500,000 tonnes (3.7 million barrels) or more of Russian diesel in May, with most of it arriving at Ras Tanura, where one of Saudi Aramco’s refineries is located, two trading sources, Kpler and Refinitiv showed.

At the same time, diesel from Saudi Arabia arriving in Singapore is set to hit 400,000 tonnes – an unprecedented level, data from Refinitiv, Vortexa and two industry sources found. The sources asked for anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. The rise in Saudi supplies could replenish Singapore stocks as exports from northeast Asia fall during the refinery overhaul season between May and July, the sources added. It is however unclear whether Saudi Arabia was storing some of its own production and shipping mostly Russian supplies via swap trades instead, since both are of typical diesel specifications.