Saudi Arabia remained the top supplier of crude to China last year, despite it importing less crude compared with the previous year.
Last year, China imported 444m tonnes of crude, which was down 8.6% year-on-year, according to data from shipbroker Banchero Costa.
Saudi Arabia, the top Opec exporter accounted for 18% of those volumes, largely unchanged from a year ago, the shipbroker said.
“Mainland China is still the world’s largest and most important seaborne importer of crude oil, accounting for 22% of all seaborne crude imports,” said Banchero Costa.
“Imports are being slowed down as Beijing investigates tax evasion and irregular quota trading among independent refineries, as well as cutting fuel export quotas to restrain crude processing.
“Also, the lockdowns taking place in most of the continent had a devastating impact on the economy, and obviously on the demand for crude oil imports.”
Shipments from West Africa decreased by 17.1% year on year to 56.7m tonnes, from 68.4m tonnes in 2020, and below the pre-Covid levels of 74.1m tonnes in 2019 and 69.8m tonnes in 2018.
Imports from South America were also down by 22.9% year-on-year to 34.2m tonnes, and 40.7% year on year from the 57.7m tonnes of 2019.
Arrivals from Russia declined by 2.2% year on year to 31.2m tonnes in 2021, almost matching the 31.9m tonnes in 2020 but slightly higher than the 29.4m tonnes in 2019.
Banchero Costa said shipments from ASEAN countries also slumped 22.1% year on year to 26.7m tonnes, below the 34.3m tonnes of 2020, but well above the 15.8m tonnes in 2019.
Shipments from Iraq came in third and fell 10% on the year to 54.13m tonnes, according to China's customs data, reported Reuters.
Brazil dropped to seventh place in the pecking order against fourth place in 2020, with supplies down 28% to 30.28m tonnes.
China’s customs data showed the country brought in its first imports of Iranian crude oil in a year in December despite ongoing sanctions by the US government.
The data also showed that US supplies of crude to China in 2021 plunged by 42% to 11.47m tonnes.
