China’s Crude Oil Imports Fell To 6-Month Low in July

China’s crude imports in July decreased to a six-month low as the nation’s lackluster economic recovery weighs on energy demand, government data showed.

• Crude imports stood at 43.69mn tons, or 10.33mbpd, last month, down by 19% from June levels, which marked a three-year high.
• "The decline was led by lower imports from the big-3 crude exporters, namely the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia, which have cut exports amid reduced production targets and/or higher domestic demand," said Emma Li, a China crude oil analyst at Vortexa.
• Despite the lower overall imports, state-owned refineries raised their processing rates in July to an average of 78%-82%, up 2-3 percentage points from June, data from consultancy Zhuochuang showed.
• China’s exports of oil products in July was at 5.31mn tons, up from June levels of 4.51mn tons. Jan-July exports of oil products were 46% higher year on year.
• China imported 10.31mn metric tons of natural gas in July, up 18.5% from 8.7mn a year ago.