China’s Oil Imports Plunge to Eight-Year Low on War Disruptions
(Bloomberg) -- China’s buying of oil from overseas slumped to the lowest in more than eight years last month as the Iran war crimped supply and Beijing held off scrambling for replacement barrels.
Crude imports fell to around 33 million tons in May, according to customs data, equating to 7.8 million barrels a day, the lowest since October 2017. The country imported an average of around 11.6 million barrels a day over 2025.
The world’s biggest crude importer has leaned on export curbs, refinery run cuts and drawdowns from its massive inventories to cope with the impact of the loss of most Gulf barrels. This has helped ease pressure on global prices, with analysts estimating China’s imports could remain subdued for months to come.
While China has continued adding to its strategic petroleum reserves during the war, processors have increasingly relied on refinery-held inventories rather than fresh imports, according to Kpler.
State-owned refiners have cut processing rates to record lows, while fuel exports remain constrained under wartime measures aimed at preserving domestic supply. Gasoline and diesel sales both posted double-digit declines in April as higher crude prices and slowing demand from China’s increasingly electrified vehicle fleet weighed on consumption.
Chinese imports of Iranian crude — a key feedstock for the country’s independent refiners — have also fallen as deteriorating margins, tighter US sanctions and Washington’s blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports curb flows.
Refining margins have narrowed since late April as processors exhausted cheaper feedstocks purchased before the war, according to industry consultant JLC. Product exports picked up slightly to 3.37 million tons last month, but remain at a multiyear low.
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