Beijing, 25 September (Argus) — Russia was the top crude supplier to China for a second straight month in August, as deliveries from Saudi Arabia were hit by rising in prices.
China imported 1.37mn b/d from Russia last month, down by 20.8pc from July and 4.8pc lower from August last year. Russia accounted for 12.3pc of China’s total crude imports of 11.18mn b/d in August.
Source: Reuters
Imports from Saudi Arabia were 1.24mn b/d in August, declines of 1.6pc and 32.2pc from a month and year earlier respectively. The decline came after state-controlled Saudi Aramco lifted its July formula price for Asia-Pacific shipments by $5.60-7.30/bl, above what some regional refiners had hoped for, and reduced its July-loading crude allocations to some term buyers.
China’s imports from Russia and Saudi Arabia in January-August averaged 1.71mn b/d and 1.67mn b/d respectively.
Crude imports from Iraq were 1.08mn b/d last month, making the country China’s third-biggest supplier even as arrivals dropped by 20.6pc from July. Imports from Brazil dropped by 9.5pc from July to 977,000 b/d.
And imports from the US fell to 524,000 b/d, down by 39pc from July’s record-high 863,000 b/d but still well above year-earlier levels. China remained the top buyer of US crude for a third consecutive month in July, with around 578,000 b/d shipped in the month.
The customs data showed no imports from Iran in August for the second time this year. Iranian imports were also at zero in June but then rebounded to 117,000 b/d in July.
