27 Jul 2020 | 04:49 UTC — Singapore

China's June crude imports from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Brazil hit fresh highs

Highlights

No arrivals from Iran in June; first since 2007

US crude imports hit 8-month high

OPEC+ market share falls to 80.5% in H1

Singapore — China's crude imports from main suppliers Saudi Arabia, Russia and Brazil all hit fresh highs in June, boosting the country's total crude imports to a record high -- and almost touching 13 million b/d in a month for the first time, General Administration of Customs data released July 26 showed.

Main supplier Saudi Arabia delivered 2.17 million b/d of crude to China in June, edging up 0.2% from the previous record high in May on barrel-per-day basis, while imports from Russia reached 1.95 million b/d, inching closer to the 2 million b/d mark and surpassing the previous high in May of 1.82 million b/d.

Fourth-largest supplier Brazil delivered 1.22 million b/d in the month, up 20.9% from the previous record high of 1.01 million b/d last November, the GAC data showed.

China's crude imports from US hit an eight-month high of 143,452 b/d in June, despite being down 23.7% year on year.

There were no Iranian crude imports in June for the first time since January 2007, when S&P Global Platts began tracking GAC data.

China's total crude oil imports surged 34.4% year on year to record high of 12.99 million b/d, or 53.18 million mt, in June as the Chinese buyers who had rushed into the market to secure cheap crudes in late March received their deliveries in the month.

Over January-June, crude imports from OPEC+ suppliers rose 7.5% year on year to 8.71 million b/d as members competed to secure outlets in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, the data showed. However, the group's market share in China fell to 80.5% in the first half of the year from 82.3% a year earlier.

OPEC's market share fell to 52.1% in H1 from 56.6% a year earlier due to the supply shortfall from Iran and Venezuela.

The GAC data recorded no crude arrivals from Venezuela over January-June, compared with 350,711 b/d in H1 2019, while imports from Iran slumped 84.7% on year to 68,453 b/d in H1.

The customs release data in metric tons, which S&P Global Platts converts to barrels using a 7.33 conversion factor.

China's top crude suppliers ('000 mt)

Jun-20
Jun-19
% change
May-20
% change
Saudi Arabia
8,884
7,721
15.1%
9,165
-3.1%
Russia
7,978
7,153
11.5%
7,708
3.5%
Iraq
6,011
3,544
69.6%
6,963
-13.7%
Brazil
4,977
2,580
92.9%
2,333
113.3%
Angola
4,442
4,426
0.4%
2,926
51.8%
Kuwait
3,124
1,619
93.0%
2,216
41.0%
Oman
2,981
2,077
43.5%
3,241
-8.0%
U.A.E.
2,549
402
534.1%
3,249
-21.5%
Norway
1,416
0
NA
256
453.3%
Kazakhstan
1,295
199
550.0%
293
342.0%
Total*
53,181
39,566
34.4%
47,968
10.9%
Total* '000 b/d
12,994
9,667
34.4%
11,342
14.6%
Jan-Jun 20
Market share
Jan-Jun 19
Market share
Vol Change
Saudi Arabia
45,164
16.8%
37,760
15.4%
19.6%
Russia
43,962
16.4%
37,692
15.4%
16.6%
Iraq
33,190
12.3%
22,755
9.3%
45.9%
Angola
21,075
7.8%
25,300
10.3%
-16.7%
Brazil
20,454
7.6%
20,211
8.3%
1.2%
Oman
18,313
6.8%
15,717
6.4%
16.5%
U.A.E.
13,762
5.1%
6,334
2.6%
117.3%
Kuwait
13,415
5.0%
10,886
4.5%
23.2%
Malaysia
7,780
2.9%
4,294
1.8%
81.2%
Norway
6,697
2.5%
117
0.0%
5600.1%
Total*
268,747
100.0%
244,577
100.0%
9.9%
Total* '000 b/d
12,960
100.0%
11,873
100.0%
9.2%

Note: * includes other suppliers

Source: General Administration of Customs

Editor:

Wendy Wells