China Daily Oil Summary: Iran Now China’s Top Seaborne Supplier

Iran has overtaken Saudi as China’s top seaborne oil supplier in October according to Kpler. Russia remains top when including pipeline.

• Arrivals of Iranian crude have averaged over 1.8 mn bpd, a new record according to Kpler figures. They were shy of 1.4 mn bpd in September.
• China’s crude throughput is set to decline this month and for the rest of Q4 due to maintenance, softer domestic demand, narrowing oil product exports access and feedstock shortage, traders and analysts told S&P Commodity Insights.
• Average utilization rate of China’s state-owned refiners covered by S&P fell to the lowest level in four months to 83% in October, as four out of the 50 refineries were under maintenance. This was still up from 80.2% in October 2022.
• Jet Fuel – China’s provisional passenger flight schedules show domestic flights up by 3.6% over the next four weeks, although last minute cancellations of routes are frequent, according to BNEF.
• YUAN: The currency weakened to 7.3180 against the dollar from 7.3166 on Friday.
• LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted CNY658 billion via 7-day reverse repo, with the rate unchanged at 1.80%.
• China and the U.S. must return to the 2022 Bali consensus to secure a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden later this year, according to Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister. Wang said China wants to expand positive bilateral relations with the US and hoped the US business community can engage with China’s continued opening policy.