China maximizes Russian oil imports in March
China made record volumes of crude imports from Russia in March, adding 790,000 bpd to its stockpiles, compared with 570,000 bpd in January and February, Reuters' Clyde Russell reported on Thursday, citing official Chinese import data.
Beijing's efforts to increase strategic stockpiles are simultaneously altering the country's oil demand picture, with record imports of Russian oil contributing to a distorted picture of the country's overall demand, Russell notes.
Numbers for the first quarter of the year show an increase in inventories of 670,000 bpd.
According to Russell, the data hides weaker Chinese crude imports for 1Q24, which stood at 11.02 million bpd, compared to 11.06 million bpd in the same quarter last year.
“The picture emerging from the first quarter is that Chinese demand for imported crude has been virtually flat and that refiners are still adding to inventories, even as prices begin to rise,” Russell wrote.
Oil prices rose on Tuesday following the release of new economic data from China, which showed strong GDP data, which is typically bullish for oil prices. Despite the GDP data, other economic indicators such as retail sales, industrial production and real estate investment showed domestic oil demand weaker than expected.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that China's demand will grow by 500,000 bpd this year, then decline to 300,000 bpd next year. Compared to other OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, China, which accounted for 80% of OECD demand growth last year, is expected to see that share fall to 43%. this year and 27% next year.
The agency sees a gradual easing of demand, based on China's slowing economic growth and "the rapid nationwide adoption of oil-substituting technologies, such as electric vehicles (EVs) and high-speed rail."
In the meantime, however, Beijing is filling its tanks, also fearing an increase in oil prices.
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-cina-massimizza-limport-di-petrolio-russo-a-marzo/ on Fri, 19 Apr 2024 06:00:42 +0000.