China’s crude oil imports increased to 12.1 million barrels per day in March, according to the customs authority, says Commerzbank raw material analyst Carsten Fritsch.
Iran and Russia feed the purchase of crude oil from China
“This was around 1.7 million barrels per day more than in January/February and almost 5% more than in the previous year. At the same time, it was the highest import volume in a month for more than a year and a half. A strong increase in Iran’s oil imports is responsible for this, although China does not publish official data about it.”
“The Vortexa Data Provider informs of a strong increase in oil imports per sea, promoted by record shipments from Iran to the province of Shandong. It is suspected that independent refineries have imported oil from Iran in the prelude to the strictest sanctions of US crude maintain the high level of March. “
“The fact that Chinese oil exports of oil products fell significantly in March and in the first quarter also speaks against this. Chinese refineries were granted lower export fees than the previous year, which has probably made it difficult for them to export the surplus of oil products. This suggests less processing of crude oil and lower imports of crude oil in the coming months.”
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
