China’s crude oil imports slipped 14% in March compared with the same month a year earlier, extending a two-month slide as independent refiners curbed purchases under narrowing margins and large state-owned refineries underwent maintenance.

The world’s top crude oil buyer imported 42.71 million tonnes last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday, equivalent to 10.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

That compares with 11.69 million bpd in March 2021 and an average of 10.53 million bpd over January and February.
Analysts estimated China’s independent refiners lowered their operations to just above 50% of capacity in March, compared with operating at more than 70% of capacity a year earlier, as global oil prices soared above $130 a barrel last month because of the Ukraine crisis, squeezing refining margins.

Imports in the first quarter totalled 127.85 million tonnes, or 10.4 million bpd, down 8% or roughly 890,000 bpd less than the same period a year ago.

Domestic gasoline demand also took a hit in March as China’s “dynamic clearance” COVID-19 control policy restricted mobility with lockdowns and led to the first decline in three months in Chinese vehicle sales.

Planned maintenance outages at several plants under refining giant Sinopec Corp 0386.HK, including refineries at Yangzi, Hainan and Tahe, shut combined processing capacity of 460,000 bpd, further curbing crude oil demand in March.

China’s natural gas imports were 7.985 million tonnes last month, daa showed, the lowest since October of 2020 according to Reuters record of customs data.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kenneth Maxwell)