China December crude imports hit more than two-year low

China's crude imports fell to the lowest level in more than two years in December as independent refiners scaled back buying after running through their import quotas.

Imports were 38.47mn t (9.1mn b/d) last month, down by 17.9pc from 11.08mn b/d in November and lower by 15.4pc from December 2019, preliminary customs data show.

December's imports were the lowest since September 2018. Some independents had already used up all their government-awarded quotas for last year and pushed back some cargo deliveries to this month instead.

China's crude imports were 10.86mn b/d in 2020 as a whole, up by 7pc from a year earlier to an all-time high. Imports hit a record 12.99mn b/d in June as buyers took advantage of the price collapse in late March. Purchases slowed since July-August after prices rebounded and inventories swelled.

China crude imports 2020 mn b/d 2020 2019 Change %&#177; Jan-Feb average 10.52 10.17 3.4 March 9.72 9.30 4.5 April 9.88 10.68 -7.5 May 11.34 9.49 19.5 June 12.99 9.67 34.4 July 12.13 9.70 25.0 August 11.23 9.97 12.6 September 11.85 10.07 17.6 October 10.06 10.76 -6.5 November 11.08 11.18 0.8 December 9.10 10.75 -15.4 Total 2020 10.86 10.16 7.0 Source: China customs

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