Russia’s supplies of crude oil to China in July have fallen by 7.4% on the year, as slowing demand within the Asian nation limits purchases by refiners.
Oil deliveries via pipelines and tankers hit 7.46 million tonnes (mt) last month, according to figures released on Tuesday by the General Administration of Customs (GACC), a ministry-level administrative agency responsible for tax collection in China.
The June figure, as reported by a US media outlet, was just over two million barrels per day (mbbl/d) while the July 2023 figure was 1.9mbbl/d.
Meanwhile, oil shipments from Saudi Arabia hit 1.51mbbl/d, a rise of 13% on the year while Malaysian imports rose by more than 60% on the year to 1.46mbbl/d in July.
In January 2024, Chinese authorities reported that the annual imports of crude oil hit an all-time high last year as the country’s fuel demand finally began to recover from a post-pandemic slump.
China imported 563.99mt, equivalent to an average of 11.28mbbl/d of oil last year, up 11% from 2022, according to GACC data.
The country’s previous record imports hit 10.81mbbl/d in 2020.
Earlier this month, the IEA’s 2024 global oil demand forecast remained unchanged, but the watchdog reduced its 2025 estimates due to the impact of a weakened Chinese economy on consumption.
According to the IEA’s August oil report, Chinese oil demand declined for the third consecutive month in June, primarily due to decreased industrial inputs, including those for the petrochemical sector.
Preliminary trade data suggests further weakness in July, with crude oil imports dropping to their lowest level since the strict lockdowns of September 2022.
Chinese oil growth demand is slowing down due to “weak macroeconomic performance following the protracted property sector crisis, which has seen manufacturing and consumption take a hit, leading to slowed oil demand”, said Paul Hasselbrinck, GlobalData’s upstream analyst, in mid-August.
“A potential fiscal stimulus is likely to come from the government as pressure mounts, which could see growth return to higher levels next year,” he added.
