Crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia to China rises to 8.8 percent in the month of March when compared to the previous year according to the media. The rise is because of the heavy demand and the arrival of the delayed shipments due to port congestions.
It was also stated that the UAE imports rose up to 86 percent where few barrels from Iran were also added in. Saudi is said to be China’s biggest crude supplier for the seventh consecutive month. China’s General Administration of Customs issued data stating that shipments from Saudi Arabia were about 7.84 million tonnes that is equivalent to 1.85 million barrels per day (bpd). It is said to be 1.7 million bpd higher than in 2020 and 1.94 million bpd less than in February 2021.
Oil arrivals at the ports of China’s oil refining hub Shandong experienced congestion in January and February. Import of crude oil from Russia to China rose up to six percent in March to 1.75 million bpd from 2020 but slipped from 1.91 million bpd in February 2021. Analysts expect that the arrival of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to China will drop further in the month of April. It is because of the voluntary supply cut of 1 million bpd by the producer and also the increasd prices of Arab light crude for the Asian market.
China’s imports from the UAE in February were at 0.71 million bpd, which increased to 86 percent on the year. Shipments from Oman also said to have risen to 60 percent from a year ago to 0.86 million bpd.