Smuggling of diesel oil has been severely cracked down, and this oil has come to disrupt the refined oil market again!
A large amount of imported light cycle oil is blended into non-standard diesel, squeezing the market at low prices, causing huge tax losses, and fuel-consuming vehicles have become "mobile pollution sources."
Outside the Fangchenggang Huitong Oil Depot, tank trucks waiting to be filled on both sides of the nearly 200-meter-long road were parked.
Photo by our reporter Wang Cheng
Our reporter Wang Cheng and He Fenglun
At least RMB 1,500 per ton is lost in the taxation process, and the unit sulfur content exceeds 1700 times the national standard. A complete industrial chain has been formed and the profit can reach up to 50%...
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters recently interviewed in Guangxi, Fujian and other coastal areas and learned that under the high pressure of cracking down on diesel smuggling, a large number of imported light cycle oils enjoying tariff preferential policies have been blended and processed to form non-standard diesel, which is quickly sold at low prices. Occupy the market, disrupt the order of the refined oil market, cause huge tax losses, and oil-using vehicles have become a "mobile pollution source."
Law enforcement officers at the grass-roots level said that the current control of light-weight circulating oil chaos is still facing the "unreliable" dilemma, and it is recommended to improve laws and regulations, straighten out the working mechanism, and form a governance force.
Import of raw materials with zero tariff, blending circulating oil to replace smuggled oil
The state has continuously stepped up its crackdown on the smuggling of refined oil products. However, since 2019, some coastal social operators have used zero-tariff imports to process and blend non-standard oil into the market.
According to reports, light circulating oil is an intermediate circulating material for crude oil production. It is simply blended with aviation kerosene to form non-standard diesel, with low cost and simple process.
A large amount of light cycle oil is imported from ASEAN member countries, South Korea and other places, enjoying preferential tax rates and even zero tariffs.
The reporter's multi-party investigation found that a complete industrial chain has been formed around this type of illegal oil: traders import and sell to blenders — blenders blend the oil and sell it to wholesalers — wholesalers distribute to construction sites, factories and mines Enterprises or "self-flowing black" (that is, self-installed tanks, mobile refueling trucks and black oil spots)-"self-flowing black" and then retailing to terminal vehicles.
Huitong Logistics (Fangchenggang) Co., Ltd., located in the port area, is a large-scale oil storage enterprise in Fangchenggang, Guangxi. A large amount of light circulating oil enters the port and is transported to the enterprise's oil depot.
In the evening, the reporter saw outside the factory that forty or fifty tank trucks were parked on both sides of the road. Judging from the license plates, these vehicles came from more than 10 provinces including Guangxi, Henan, Sichuan, and Guizhou.
At the service window outside the factory, more than 10 tanker truck drivers gathered around to report the situation of the transportation of oil products. The staff quickly registered the order information on the "Tank Truck Entry and Exit Registration Form".
The reporter randomly selected two tank trucks from the "recycled oil" transportation registration form and used the GPS system of the transportation department to check their driving trajectories. They found that the two trucks were unloading oil near the Sanjin Primary School in Nanning City and the Gaosite Oil Depot in Nanning City.
According to industry insiders, these two places are light-weight circulating oil blending points, from which non-standard oil is transported to social gas stations, construction sites or directly sold to terminal vehicles.
"Before'smuggled oil', now'recycled oil'." Li Minlong, a staff member of the operation and management department of Sinopec Guangxi Petroleum Company, told reporters. "Preliminary statistics show that the illegal oil consumption in the Guangxi market in 2020 is about 2 million tons, including smuggling of refined oil at sea and Of the illegal oil processed on land, about 1 million tons are diesel blended with light cycle oil."
In recent interviews in Qinzhou, Fangchenggang, Yulin and other places in Guangxi, the reporter saw that there are many "black oil trucks" parked near the port area and on both sides of the main roads. Most of these oil trucks are eliminated by Wuling vehicles, van trucks, etc. After refitting, there is a built-in oil tank, which can provide diesel refueling service to large trucks and trucks at any time.
The reporter saw in a WeChat group called "Logistics Information Group in the Standard Ton Era" that from time to time, someone sent delivery information in code words, such as "Fangchenggang Beibuwan Avenue, our water refill point is 150 meters back from the water refill point of Xia Shui Ge", etc. Wait.
Shi Mou, a Jiangxi-licensed oil tanker driver waiting outside the Huitong Oil Depot, said: “I used to transport smuggled oil. In the past two years, if you fight too hard, the driver will be sentenced if you catch it. Now the recycling oil business is very good, from Guangxi and Guangdong coastal areas. The oil depot is transported to Yunnan, and the whole truck is unloaded to the construction site or private gas station. We are only responsible for the transportation, and the boss takes care of other things."
The tax lost per ton is at least 1,500 yuan, and the sulfur content exceeds the standard by up to 1,700 times
The reporter's investigation found that non-standard light-weight cycle oil squeezed the market at low prices, and huge profits in the wholesale and sales links caused a serious loss of national tax revenue.
At the same time, the quality of such oil products does not meet the requirements of the National Sixth Standard, and some indicators are seriously "explosive" and become "mobile pollution sources."
According to industry analysts, taking July 2020 as an example, the importer's price of imported light cycle oil is about 3100 yuan per ton, the wholesale price of non-standard oil is about 3650 yuan per ton, and the retail price is about 3750 yuan per ton. During the same period, the wholesale and retail prices of diesel for compliant enterprises were about 5,350 yuan and 6,400 yuan per ton, and the difference was as high as 1,500 yuan and 2,650 yuan, respectively.
Some "black oil spots" sell non-standard light cycle oil at a price of up to nearly 4,700 yuan per ton, and the entire industrial chain can reach a maximum profit of about 50%.
The reporter found that one ton of refined diesel is levied at about 1,400 yuan in the refining process, and the sales link is levied at about 130 yuan. Other taxes must be paid. Even considering that some non-standard oil has already paid taxes in the sales link, the average inflow per ton The non-standard oil in the market loses at least 1,500 yuan in taxation.
"Light cycle oil non-standard oil has a low price and huge profit margins. It can be said that the profit is tax money." Li Minlong said, "According to the annual circulation of about 1 million tons of light cycle oil non-standard oil in the Guangxi market, it is quite Yu evaded more than a billion yuan in taxes."
The reporter found that the chaos of non-standard oil represented by light-weight circulating oil blending oil is widespread in Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places, and various localities have carried out special crackdowns on many occasions.
"From 2019 onwards, special inspections have been launched for tax-related violations such as non-accounting of oil products purchased at gas stations, concealment of sales revenue, and false declarations." said Liang Wenji, the first-level director of the Inspection Bureau of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region State Taxation Bureau. "In 2019, 842 private gas stations were inspected, and 209 were found to have tax evasion problems. In 2020, inspections of transportation and storage companies were increased, and 109 more were found, with a total of 160 million yuan in tax payment."
In addition, after desulfurization and hydrogenation, the quality of non-standard oil processed from light-weight circulating oil does not meet the requirements of the national standard, and many vehicles have become mobile air pollution sources.
"According to the current National Sixth Standard, the sulfur content per kilogram of diesel oil does not exceed 10mg. However, it was found in the investigations that the unit sulfur content of non-standard light cycle oil often exceeded the standard, most of which exceeded 1000mg, and many reached 5000mg. Law enforcement officers found that the highest reached 17,000 mg, which is about 1,700 times higher than the standard." Li Minlong said.
The crackdown is facing the dilemma of "unable to rely", and market governance is difficult
Law enforcement officials at the grass-roots level said that the current petroleum product oil management regulations have been abolished, and the crackdown on light-weight circulating oil and non-standard oil is facing the "unable to rely" dilemma, and market governance is difficult.
In August 2019, the relevant departments cancelled the approval of the qualification for wholesale and storage of petroleum refined oil, and delegated the approval of the retail operation qualification to the people's government at the prefecture and city level.
On July 1, 2020, the "Measures for the Administration of the Refined Oil Market" and the "Measures for the Administration of the Crude Oil Market" were also abolished.
Several frontline public security police reported that after the abolition of the above two measures, "some oil blenders believed that the market was completely liberalized."
The lack of relevant laws and regulations has also resulted in different identifications by the public, procuratorate and legal agencies in the process of cracking down on non-standard oil.
A director of the Public Security Bureau in Qinzhou, Guangxi said, “After the abolition of the measures, the branch handled two non-standard oil cases in 2020, but when they were transferred to the procuratorate for the crime of illegal business operations, they were all transferred to the market supervision and management department due to insufficient evidence chain. , Only administrative penalties can be imposed."
The reporter learned that oil products with a flash point below 60 degrees Celsius are hazardous chemicals and can be punished in accordance with the "Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals", and the amount can be convicted if the amount reaches a certain standard.
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Public Security Department’s first-level police chief, Wang Jun, said that among the non-standard oils, represented by light circulating oil, seized by public security agencies in recent years, they were sent to a third-party agency for testing and found that very few oil products have a flash point below At 60 degrees Celsius, criminals improved the process to increase the flash point and evade legal sanctions.
The low cost of illegality reduces the deterrent effect of law enforcement.
Police handling cases in Guangxi and Fujian stated that in practice, the crime of illegal business operations is usually used to combat non-standard oil, and the case value is more than 50,000 yuan before being sentenced.
“During law enforcement, it was discovered that criminals often controlled a single transfer amount below 50,000 yuan, and frequently changed WeChat or Alipay accounts or used other people’s accounts to collect payments. The value of the case was small and it did not constitute a criminal condition.” A policeman in Guangxi. Frankly.
Laws and regulations need to be improved urgently, and governance forces need to be formed
Several grass-roots law enforcement officers interviewed suggested that to systematically control the chaos in the light circulating oil market, it is necessary to improve laws and regulations, straighten out the working mechanism, and form a combined force.
In view of the legal gaps in the refined oil market, the opinions on promoting the high-quality development of refined oil circulation should be expedited, and the people's governments at the prefecture and city level should also issue detailed implementation rules for the licensing of refined oil retail business as soon as possible, clarifying the implementation departments, approval procedures, and Regulatory measures, etc.
The reporter's investigation found that in addition to light-weight circulating oil, there are various names such as "chemical reagent oil", "heat transfer oil", and "transformer oil" in the refined oil market. They are similar in composition and function to regular diesel, and they are constantly changing product names. Regulations "side ball".
Law enforcement officials suggested that market supervision and management, public security, taxation and other departments jointly promulgate management measures against such illegal oil products.
In addition to forming a combined force for combating, it is also necessary to straighten out the working mechanism and form a combined force for governance.
The reporter learned from interviews that at present, in Guangxi and other places, the commerce department is still taking the lead in anti-illegal and smuggling of refined oil products. Many front-line law enforcement officials suggested that after the institutional reform, it is recommended that market supervision and management, public security, etc. be the leading departments to carry out special projects. Action to strengthen the entire chain of crackdowns on illegal sales, transportation, and tax evasion of non-standard oil.
Some people in the industry suggest that relevant departments should scientifically evaluate the tax policy on the import of light recycled oil. For imported light recycled oil that is not used as a chemical raw material but is actually sold in the circulation field, it is necessary to increase supervision during and after the event.
Once verified, the consumption tax should be paid in accordance with the refined oil standards to create a fair competitive market environment.