China’s imported edged up in April instead of falling as expected by the market, with crude oil imports leading the way, rising 11% year on year to a record for the month of 10.64 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the country’s General Administration of Customs.
The surge in oil shipments stood out in a month when imports of major commodities were mixed to soft, with coal up, LNG down, iron ore off, copper a touch higher and soybeans up sharply.
Imports in April were 43.73 million tonnes which was also up sharply from 39.17 million tonnes or around 9.22 million barrels a day in March. That was a rise of 11.6%.
Imports for the first four months of this year totalled a record 164.9 million tonnes, up 8.9% on the first four months of 2018.
China’s Iran crude oil imports rose to 24 million barrels or about 800,000 bpd in April, the highest since August, as buyers rushed in shipments before the US sanctions waiver deadline of May 1, Reuters reported
But iron ore imports fell sharply, hitting their lowest level in 18 months as the impact of the partial closure of some mines in Brazil and the cut to shipments from Australia hit home.
The Customs figures show that 80.77 million tonnes last month, the lowest since October 2017. That compares to 86.42 million tonnes in March and 82.92 million tonnes in April 2018.
For the first four months of 2019, China imported 340.21 million tonnes of iron ore, customs data showed, down 3.7% from 353.32 million tonnes in the same period last year.
Prices though rose through the $US80 a tonne level and topped $US90 a tonne for a while in April as Vale, the big Brazil miner and exporter struggles to get a handle on its shipments in the wake of the January 25 mine disaster.
At the same time shipments from Australia dipped 3% or so because of the impact of Cyclone Veronica and a fire at a Rio Tinto export facility.
China imported 405,000 tonnes of unwrought copper in April, down 8.4% on the same month last year, but up a touch from the 391,000 tonnes imported in March.
Imports of copper concentrate, or partially processed copper ore, rose to 1.66 million tonnes in April, up from 1.55 million tonnes in the same month a year ago. But April’s tonnage was down from the 1.77 million tonnes imported in March.
China imported 25.3 million tonnes of coal in April. That was up 13.6% from 22.28 million tonnes imported in April of last year. But it was down slightly from the 23.48 million tonnes in March.
For the first four months of 2019, imports were 99.93 million tonnes, up 1.7% from a year ago. That was better than the 1.7% fall in the first three months of the year
China’s imports of natural gas (pipeline and LNG totalled) 7.65 million tonnes, up from March’s 6.91 million tonnes. China’s January-April natural gas imports totalled 31.98 million tonnes, more than 18% up on the first four months of 2018.
And China’s soybean imports in April jumped 10.7% from April 2018, as shipments delayed from March reached the country
Customers data showed China imported 7.64 million tonnes of soybeans in April, up from 6.9 million tonnes a year earlier and up 55% from 4.92 million tonnes in March.
Reuters explained that soybean cargoes were delayed to arrive in April to take advantage of a cut in the value-added tax on agricultural products effective from April 1.
