China Daily Oil Summary: Crude Imports Rose in May

MNI (London) - China's crude oil imports stood at 46.97 million metric tons, or 11.06 mn bpd in May according to customs data on Friday vs 10.93mbpd in April.

• China’s imports of Iranian crude jumped to 1.54mn bpd in May according to Kpler - a seven-month high.

• China’s oil product imports dropped 21.5% m/m in May to 4.45mn mt according to customs data.
• The average weekly capacity utilization rate of Shandong independent refineries was 52.41%, down 7.76 percentage points from the beginning of the year and 9.44 percentage points y/y.
• DATA: China's exports rose 7.6% y/y in May, beating the market consensus of a 5.3% y/y rise and far ahead of the 1.5% y/y growth seen in April, data released by Customs showed, with the increase driven mainly by recovering external demand. Imports increased 1.8% y/y during the month, lower than the market consensus for a 4.6% y/y pick up, slowing from last month's 8.4% y/y rise.
• DATA: China’s service trade grew rapidly in the first four months of 2024, with travel services contributing the most, according to data released on the Ministry of Commerce website. Export of services rose 11% y/y in the first four months, while imports of services jumped 21.2%, both accelerating from the 9.4% and 18.7% growth in Q1.