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China’s crude oil imports in April slowed compared to the previous month, but increased 7.5% compared to a year ago due largely to an abundance of shipments sanctioned by the government and because state refineries built up stocks during maintenance shut-downs.
According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), imports to the largest buyer in the world totaled 48.06 millions metric tons in April, which is equivalent to 11,69 million barrels a day.
This is less than the 12.1 million bpd of March, but more than the 10.88 million in April 2024.
Vortexa Analytics estimates that despite record Iranian oil imports in March, Iranian crude oil and condensate, mostly mislabeled as Malaysian, remained at around 1.5 million bpd.
Vortexa reported that China brought in record amounts of Russian Arctic barrels in April totaling about 280,000 bpd, compensating for the lower Iranian supply.
According to traders and Vortexa, the overall purchases made in April, which included “mainstream” non-sanctioned supply by state refiners helped boost inventories.
The build-up of crude oil in China’s offshore tanks has accelerated dramatically since April. The average rate of construction exceeded 1.1? Vortexa published a note in this week stating that the average build rate exceeded 1.1?
Traders cautioned, however, that some of the Iranian crude oil delivered in March and April, and sitting in tanks, struggled to find buyers as sanctions worries discouraged buying from some large independent plants. Discounts for Iranian Light grade have risen to $2.3-$2.4 a bar over ICE Brent, compared to $2 previously.
According to data records, the imports for the first four month period were 183.03 millions tons or 11,13 million bpd. This is a 0.5% increase from the previous year’s period.
Click here for more information (Reporting and editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman; Beijing newsroom).
(source: Reuters)
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