China imported just 8.93 million bpd of crude oil in October, official figures showed. That marked the lowest imports in 39 months. It also represented a decline of more than 1 million bpd from a month and a year earlier. The drop primarily reflected weak refinery demand and inventory withdrawals. However, it was also associated with delayed reporting of discharged cargoes over the National Day holidays.
However, China’s oil imports are expected to rebound soon on the back of additional purchases by new refineries and increased inflows to replenish inventories after the government released a new batch of import quotas. The rebound should be robust if oil prices eased with softer fundamentals and big oil-importing countries coordinated to release their strategic oil reserves.
