China’s crude oil imports record their first year-on-year decline since April

Customs data showed on Thursday that China’s crude oil imports in November fell 9.2 percent year-on-year, the first annual decline since April as high inventory levels, weak economic indicators and a slowdown in orders from independent refineries weakened demand.

According to the General Customs Administration, the total imported crude oil last month reached 42.445 million tons, or 10.33 million barrels per day, which is the lowest daily rate since July and down from 11.53 million barrels per day in October.

Imports from China, the largest buyer of oil in the world, since the beginning of the year until now have reached 515.65 million tons, or the equivalent of 11.27 million barrels per day, an increase of 12.1% over the previous year.

Customs data on Thursday also showed that refined fuel exports amounted to 5.08 million tons, compared to 5.17 million tons in October, a 17 percent decrease compared to 6.14 million tons a year ago.

Regional refining margins rose during the month of November, reaching $6.74 per barrel on December 1, nearly double what they were the previous month at $3.60 per barrel.

The data also showed that imports of refined fuel reached 4.16 million tons, an increase of one-third over the previous year, with the volume increasing since the beginning of the year by 87 percent to reach 43.23 million tons.

China’s natural gas imports, which include liquefied natural gas and pipelined gas, rose six percent year-on-year to 10.95 million tons, the highest level since January 2022 and a sharp increase from 8.79 million tons in October due to the entry of northern… China winter heating season.