China's crude imports in June reached the highest daily rate of since August 2023
Data showed that China's crude imports increased in June to the highest rate daily since August 2023. This was after refineries increased their operations and imports from Saudi Arabia and Iran rose, according consultancies.
Data from the General Administration of Customs revealed that China was the world's biggest crude oil importer, importing 49.89 millions metric tons of crude, or 12.14 million barrels of oil per day.
Volume increased by 7.1% in comparison to 46.6 million tonnes in May, and 7.4% compared to June 2024.
The main reason for this surge is that the oil prices have fallen since April. Arrivals in June were purchased mainly in April and may as China's crude purchases are dominated by term contracts.
According to local consultancy Oilchem, maintenance affected a combined refinery capacity of 107.7 millions tons per annum in June. This is down 22.2 million tonnes from May.
Kpler analyst MuyuXu stated that "we estimate China's crude demand increased to 15,17 million bpd by June, up 14.8 million in May as more refineries returned to operation following spring turnarounds."
Kpler has also noted an increase in imports of goods from Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Kpler data shows that China's Saudi Arabia imports rose from 1.78 million to 845,000 barrels per day (bpd), as refiners in China nominated more May and June cargoes due to lower OSPs.
The firm also reported that Iranian crude imports increased by 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1,49 million bpd, as refineries restocked their inventories after the spring maintenance was completed.
The data released on Monday also revealed that China's refined oil exports dropped 0.7% to 53.35 millions tons in June from the same period a year ago.
The data revealed that natural gas imports, including piped and liquefied gas, fell by 7.8% over the past year to 10.55 millions tons. (Metric ton equals 7.3 barrels of crude oil for conversion) (Reporting and editing by Stephen Coates; Sam Li)
(source: Reuters)
