Chinese oil imports jump by 14% in November, marking the first increase in 7 months.

Data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on Tuesday morning showed that China's crude oil imports increased year-on-year in November for the first time in seven months, following a decline in oil prices from the Middle East and China's efforts to increase its national stockpile. According to the data, China imported about 48.52 million metric tons of oil in November, equivalent to 11.81 million barrels per day, representing a 14.3% increase from the 42.45 million metric tons imported by the world's largest crude buyer in the same month last year. The General Administration of Customs data indicated that the daily average imports in November were the highest since August 2023, which is about a year and a quarter ago, rising from the lowest level recorded for daily imports in November 2023, which was 10.33 million barrels per day. However, despite the annual recovery in Chinese oil imports in November, they have decreased during the period from the beginning of the year until now compared to the same period last year, by 1.9%. This indicates a potential decline in China's oil imports throughout the entirety of 2024. If Chinese oil imports decline throughout 2024, this would represent the third annual decrease over the past five years, following drops in imports due to the pandemic in 2021 and 2022. The latest Chinese refinery, Yulong Petrochemicals in Shandong, has added approximately 200,000 barrels per day, reaching about 90% of its total capacity. Yulong Petrochemicals also aims to conduct operating tests on a second unit of the same size in early January. The addition of the new refinery, along with China's issuance of an additional import quota of no less than 5.84 million tons (equivalent to about 116,800 barrels per day) for independent refineries in 2024, is expected to boost China's oil imports in December, especially after the government requested its oil companies to add 8 million metric tons of crude this year to their strategic stockpiles. At the same time, the data showed that China's exports of refined oil products—which include diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, and marine fuel—rose by 3% in November compared to the same month last year, reaching 5.23 million tons. This is higher than the 3.96 million tons recorded in October, which was the lowest level since April 2023.