Russia is top China oil supplier 4th straight month in June, longest streak ever
BEIJING (Reuters) — Russia was China's biggest crude oil supplier for a fourth straight month in June, its longest streak ever in the top spot, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.
China's total crude oil imports reached 36.11 MMt in June, or 8.79 MMbpd, making the country the world's largest buyer for a second month. However, imports dipped 2.9% from May's purchases, the second-highest on record.
Russia's shipments to China last month rose 27% from a year ago to 1.27 MMbpd, but were down from its record 1.35 MMbpd in May, the customs data showed. The country has been China's top oil exporter since March, its longest period ever as the biggest supplier.
Russian crude exports to China grew this year after independent refiners expanded their diet to include the Urals grade exported from the Mediterranean. China also snapped up almost all of the ESPO blend exports from the Pacific port of Kozmino.
Shipments from Angola rose 10.6% from a year ago to 1 MMbpd, the data showed. That was also down from May's 1.31 MMbpd, the data showed.
Russia and Angola are also the top two suppliers for the first six months of this year. During the period, Russia supplied 29.2 MMt of crude to China, or 1.18 MMbpd, and Angola shipped 1.09 MMbpd, a 22% jump from last year.
Saudi Arabia's exports continue to fall, with June shipments down 15.8% from a year ago to 936,607 bpd, making it China's third-largest supplier. For the year to date, it has shipped 1.07 MMbpd.
Lower refinery throughput is likely to further reduce China's demand for crude in coming months, with almost 10% of the country's refining capacity set to be shut down during the third quarter as the industry struggles under a glut of fuel products.
The data also showed that June imports from Iraq surged 47% compared with a year ago to 834,788 bpd. Supplies from Brazil jumped 118% to 689,969 bpd in June, making it the fifth-biggest supplier for the month.
Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Tom Hogue
Comments