China's crude imports in May are at a 4-mth-low amid widespread refinery repairs
Data released on Monday showed that China's crude imports in May fell to the lowest rate per day in four months as maintenance at state-owned refineries and independent refineries increased.
According to the General Administration of Customs, the imports of crude oil in May totaled 46.6 million metric tonnes. This is equivalent to 10,97 million barrels a day.
Volume dropped by 3% from 48.06 millions tons in April and by 0.78% compared to May 2024.
The data shows that in the first five month of 2025 China imported 229.61 metric tons or 11.1 millions bpd. This is up 0.3% compared to the same period last year.
According to local consultancy Oilchem, maintenance affected a combined refinery capacity of 129.9 millions tons per annum, or approximately 2.6 million BPD, which is up 19.2 million tonnes from April.
MuyuXu, Kpler’s senior crude analyst, stated that May is usually the peak maintenance period in China. Refineries therefore reduced their purchases for cargoes arriving in this month.
The Saudi Arabian long-term contracts volumes were also significantly reduced, as crude prices had been relatively high in the past. "Iran oil arrivals in May were extremely low, making overall seaborne imports very weak."
Imports are expected to recover in June.
"This is because the volume long-term contract barrels arriving from the Middle East in June will rise significantly, and arbitrage barges from other regions will also increase, such as Brazilian crude. MuyuXu stated that Iranian crude imports could remain low and roughly equal to May levels.
The data released on Monday also revealed that China's refined oil exports dropped 17.62% to 4,41 million tons in May from the same month a year ago.
The data shows that natural gas imports, including liquefied and piped gas, fell 10.8% over the past year to 10,11 million tonnes.
Imports of spot LNG were weaker than Asian prices
(source: Reuters)
