China’s Oil Import Slump Rebalances Global Crude Market Amid Hormuz Closure
China has cut crude oil imports by about 25% from prewar levels to roughly 8.2 million barrels a day from around 11.7 million, according to Vortexa estimates cited in a report, a shift that is rebalancing the global market amid the Hormuz closure. The reduction has added unexpected supply, helping cap benchmark prices near $100 a barrel and pushing physical premiums down from about $30 a barrel in early April to as low as $1.
The report said the decline was driven largely by reduced stockpiling rather than outright demand destruction, with state-owned refiners also reselling cargoes to overseas buyers as commercial inventories continued to rise. Possible drivers include weaker-than-expected demand growth, electric-vehicle adoption, coal-to-chemicals substitution and increased domestic supply, though the exact cause remains unclear.
From the sources (3 posts)
@sino_market🇨🇳🛢China’s 3.5 Million b/d Oil Import Drop Emerges as Key Hidden Force Rebalancing Global Crude Market China has reduced crude oil imports by about 25% from prewar levels to roughly 8.2 million barrels per day, down from around 11.7 million
@javierblasCOLUMN: China is quietly slashing oil imports, an invisible hand that's rebalancing the market in the middle of the Hormuz closure. (The shift has not only capped benchmark oil prices, but also triggered a collapse in physical differential
@rusoilgasexpert➡️ "Quietly, Beijing has slashed its oil imports by about a quarter from prewar levels." ➡️ As China imports ~12mmbpd, very close to the net amount of crude trapped in the Persian Gulf, this means that China by itself has offset about 25% o