Amid the highest Chinese refinery throughput so far this year, China’s crude oil imports jumped in October by 8.2% from a year earlier and by 2.3% month-on-month, while purchases of other commodities dropped from the previous months.
Last month, China imported on average 48.36 million metric tons of crude oil, equivalent to 11.4 million barrels per day (bpd), according to official data from the General Administration of Customs cited by Reuters.
Improving refining margins resulted in higher refinery throughput, Emma Li, lead market analyst at Vortexa, said earlier this week.
The energy flow tracking firm estimated Chinese seaborne crude imports at 10.4 million bpd in October, up by 6% compared to September, and up by 9% from a year earlier.
“State-run refiners have increased runs in the second half of the year to capture domestic market share from private refiners and maximise fuel export quota utilisation amid improving margins, leading to a visible slowdown in onshore crude stockpiles,” Vortexa’s Li noted.
This year, China has accelerated crude stock builds, which may come in handy at the end of 2025 as global oil flows are being redirected again in the wake of the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top oil firms.
The stockpiles in China, estimated at between 1.2 billion and 1.3 billion barrels in strategic and commercial reserves, have put a floor under oil prices in recent months, despite fears of an imminent glut.
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While Chinese crude imports showed strength in October, other commodity imports slumped, the import data showed.
Chinese coal imports dropped to a three-month low and year to date are running about 11% below 2024 levels amid high domestic production and stockpiles, per the data quoted by Bloomberg.
LNG imports are also down, due to higher production in China and increased pipeline flows.
Steel and iron ore imports also declined in October compared to September.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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