China’s imports of Russian oil near record high in March
RoydadNaft – Russia remained China’s top oil supplier in March, data showed on Saturday, as refiners snapped up stranded Sokol shipments.
China’s imports from Russia, including supplies via pipelines and sea-borne shipments, jumped 12.5% on the year to 10.81 million metric tons, or 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
That was quite close to the previous monthly record of 2.56 million bpd in June 2023.
Data from consultancy Kpler forecast sea-borne shipments from Russia hitting a record high of 1.82 million bpd, including 440,000 bpd of Sokol and 967,000 of ESPO.
Russia was China’s top supplier throughout 2023, shipping 2.14 million bpd despite Western sanctions and a price cap following the Kremlin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In coordination with other OPEC+ members, Russia opted to roll forward a voluntary reduction in crude oil output of 300,000 bpd into the first quarter of the year to support energy prices.
Imports from Saudi Arabia, previously China’s largest supplier, totalled 6.3 million tons in March, or 1.48 million bpd, down 29.3% on the same period last year.
January-March imports from Malaysia, a trans-shipment point for sanctioned cargoes from Iran and Venezuela, soared 39.2% on the year to 13.7 million tons, or 3.23 million bpd.
Customs recorded no imports from Iran.
Below lists imports from main suppliers with volumes in million metric tons and year-on-year percentage change calculations by Reuters:
Country |
Amount in March |
% Change |
YTD Total |
YTD % Change |
Russia |
10.81 |
12.5% |
28.53 |
12.8% |
Saudi |
6.30 |
-29.25% |
19.79 |
-13.3% |
Iraq |
5.42 |
-10.7% |
15.57 |
-0.8% |
Malaysia |
4.76 |
4.5% |
13.70 |
39.2% |
UAE |
4.06 |
9.4% |
10.46 |
1.7% |
Oman |
3.62 |
-5.0% |
10.11 |
3.7% |
Brazil |
3.58 |
-1.5% |
9.52 |
-3.9% |
Angola |
2.35 |
19.6% |
7.03 |
12.6% |
Kuwait |
1.16 |
-65.8% |
3.73 |
-48.2% |
US |
0.43 |
-52.6% |
2.21 |
-13.4% |
Venezuela |
0.38 |
N/A |
0.73 |
N/A |
Iran |
0.00 |
N/A |
0.00 |
N/A |
(ton = 7.3 barrels for crude oil conversion)