Chinese imports of Iranian oil likely dipped in April, as UAE supply fell
London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Chinese imports of Iranian oil likely fell last month, according to Chinese customs data, as supply from proxy states UAE and Oman fell sharply.
According to monthly statistics released by China Customs, Saudi Arabia remained the top supplier of crude to the country with 6.47 million mt with Russia in second place at 6.3 million mt.
But combined supply from Oman and the UAE stood at 5.39 million mt, down on a monthly average of 6.6 million mt supplied from those origins each month during January through March.
Both of those countries combined were China's third biggest supplier of crude in Q1, ahead of Iraq, as independent refiners based in Shandong filled an increase in government import quotas with cheap Iranian crude.
However, supply slowed in April, with imports from UAE falling 30% on the monthly average of 2.7 million mt so far this year to 1.86 million mt.
Supply from Oman was 3.5 million mt, down marginally on the 3.8 million mt on average imported from the Middle East country so far this year.
Total imports for April, as released on 7 May this year, stood at 40.3 million mt, or 9.82 million bpd.
Top 10 origins of Chinese crude imports April 2021
| Origin | Metric tonnes | Barrels |
| Saudi Arabia | 6,470,174 | 47,232,271 |
| Russian Federation | 6,299,069 | 45,983,200 |
| Iraq | 4,446,345 | 32,458,321 |
| Oman | 3,529,853 | 25,767,924 |
| Angola | 3,123,521 | 22,801,703 |
| Brazil | 2,798,384 | 20,428,206 |
| Kuwait | 2,684,523 | 19,597,018 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1,860,910 | 13,584,645 |
| Norway | 1,529,693 | 11,166,759 |
| Colombia | 963,521 | 7,033,705 |
Source: Chinese customs data
