China’s Russian oil imports surged over 50 per cent in May, boosted by discounts amid Ukraine war sanctions
- China spent US$5.8 billion to import a record 8.42 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia last month, helped by discounts offered by suppliers facing Western sanctions
- China’s overall crude oil imports rose by 11.8 per cent in May from a year earlier to 45.8 million tonnes
China stepped up purchases of Russian energy in May amid steep discounts offered by suppliers facing Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, customs data showed.
Crude oil imports from Russia soared to a record 8.42 million tonnes last month, increasing by 29 per cent from April and by 55 per cent from a year earlier, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs released on Monday.
The surge lifted the value of total Russia crude imports to US$5.8 billion in May, more than double the value compared to a year earlier.
The value, though, was still lower than China paid for crude imports from Saudi Arabia – its biggest crude oil supplier last year – in May, even though the volume from Russia was around 600,000 tonnes higher.
Russia’s seaborne shipments of crude oil to China rose for the fourth consecutive month in May to 1 million barrels per day, and arrivals in June will continue