China Daily Oil Summary: Imports of Russian Crude Surge

MNI (London) - Chinese crude oil imports from Russia surged to a near record high in March amid an increase in deliveries of Sokol crude previously stranded on water due to tightened US sanctions.

• China’s exports of marine fuel oil rose 12% in March m/m to 1.32mn metric tons according to General Administration of Customs data.
• CDU capacity utilisation rates at China’s state-owned refineries are projected to keep falling in the week to April 25, according to OilChem.
• The main buyers of Iranian oil are the Chinese teapot refiners, with neither side using US dollars or the US financial system, making any new sanctions hard to enforce according to Amrita Sen, Director of Research at Energy Aspects.
• EXCLUSIVE: China's Loan Prime Rate will likely remain stable over the coming months following the central bank’s warning that excessively low interest rates could negatively impact competition, production capacity control and reduce inventory in some sectors.
• POLICY: China's Loan Prime Rate remained unchanged on Monday according to a People's Bank of China statement, in line with market expectation following the central bank’s decision to hold its policy rate steady as U.S. dollar strength weighs on the yuan and solid Q1 GDP growth reduces the need for monetary easing in the short term.
• FROM THE PRESS: China’s commerce ministry and nine other departments have jointly released 16 measures to facilitate and encourage foreign institutions to invest in domestic technology enterprises, Shanghai Securities News reported.