China's crude oil imports in the first two months of 2020 from top supplier Saudi Arabia rose 26% from a year earlier, while purchases from No. 2 supplier Russia gained 11%, Reuters' calculations based on customs data showed on Wednesday.
China's total crude oil imports during January and February rose 5.2% from the previous year to 10.47 million barrels per day (bpd), according to preliminary data earlier this month.
Refiners typically build up crude stockpiles ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in late January this year.
Orders for imports in January and February were made months before the coronavirus that first erupted in China's Hubei province started to drag on Chinese oil demand and spread around the world. China is the world's biggest oil importer.
Looking ahead, March arrivals have been assessed at about 10 million bpd, according to Refinitiv Oil Research, higher than the 9.26 million bpd China brought in a year earlier, as refiners bought up ample global supplies at much reduced prices despite being forced to lower plant operations as fuel demand was limited by the coronavirus outbreak.
Chinese customs did not give a break down for the imports in each month.
Imports from Saudi Arabia were 14.74 million tons, or 1.79 million bpd, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. That is up from the 1.45 million bpd imported a year earlier and the average daily imports of 1.67 million bpd for all of 2019.
Russia supplied 14.055 million tons over the two months, or 1.71 million bpd, the data showed.
China's imports from the United States were zero, the data showed. U.S. imports, which fell last year because of the U.S.-China trade war, are likely to pick up later in 2020 after Beijing started granting tariff waivers on U.S. goods including crude oil from early March.
There were no shipments from Venezuela for a fourth month in a row, as China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Caracas's top oil client, avoided lifting any oil from there to avoid violating secondary U.S. sanctions.
Under extended U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports, China's imports from the Middle East producer trickled to 666,546 tons during the January-February period, down 81% from a year earlier.
Shipments from Malaysia quadrupled during January and February to 3.58 million tons, or 436,000 bpd.
Below are details of imports from China's key suppliers. Volumes are in million tons, with the percentage changes calculated by Reuters.
Country Jan-Feb y/y %change
Saudi Arabia 14.74 25.8
Russia 14.055 10.6
Angola 6.314 -34.3
Iraq 10.63 40.8
Iran 0.667 -81.2
Venezuela - NA
USA - NA
Malaysia 3.58 304
(ton=7.3 barrels for crude conversion)