(Reuters) - PBF Energy posted a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss on Thursday as the U.S. refiner took a hit from weak fuel demand which shrunk refining margins.

Globally, refiners have seen a drop in profitability due to soft consumer and industrial demand, especially in China.

Bigger rivals Phillips 66 and Valero Energy posted drops in quarterly earnings, dented by weak margins, but still managed to beat analysts' estimates.

The company said its gross refining margin, excluding special items, per barrel of throughput stood at $6.79 in the quarter, a 69.4% drop from last year.

U.S. refiners are seeing their margins and profits normalize from recent record highs, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"PBF's financial results for the quarter reflect the broader macro headwinds brought about by weaker-than-expected global demand and higher-than-anticipated refinery utilization," PBF Energy's CEO Matt Lucey said in a statement.

The company added it was conducting its last major turnaround at the Chalmette refinery in Louisiana and expects the work to be finished in November.

The company said its reported quarter's crude oil and feedstocks throughput stood at 935,600 barrels of oil per day (bpd), compared with the previous year's 939,700 bpd.

For the current quarter, it expects total throughput to be between 840,000 bpd and 900,000 bpd.

PBF also announced a 10% increase in quarterly dividend to $0.275 per share.

On an adjusted basis, the Parsippany, New Jersey-based company lost $1.50 per share in the third quarter, compared with estimates of a loss of $1.41 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)