BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s imports rose in April from a year earlier as refineries prepared for a full resumption of the Labor Day holiday travel season, official data showed on Thursday.
Data from the General Administration of Customs show that total crude oil imports in April were 44.72 million tons, equivalent to approximately 10.88 million barrels per day.
This is a 5.45% increase from the relatively low daily imports of 10.4 million barrels in April 2023.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, during the five-day Labor Day holiday starting on May 1, Chinese passenger trips exceeded 1.3 billion, an annual increase of 2.1%.
Xinhua News Agency said that road traffic increased by 2.1%, and air travel surged by 8.1%.
According to data from consulting firm OAG, domestic airline seat capacity increased by 1.3% in April compared with the same period last year.
China’s manufacturing industry continued to recover moderately in April. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 50.4 in April from 50.8 in March, remaining above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction, but showed activity was expanding at a slower pace than before.
Imports fell 5.8% from 11.55 million barrels per day in March.
Chinese consultancy JLC said before the data was released that it expected April seaborne oil shipments to fall 4.6% from March due to tight margins and the onset of maintenance season.
JLC forecasts that maintenance work at state-run refineries will peak in the second quarter, which will have a knock-on effect on refinery throughput in April. However, data cited by MySteel, a Chinese commodities consultancy, shows that the amount of production capacity at state-run refineries shut down for maintenance will be 24% lower than last year.
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Customs data showed that import volume increased by 14.7% year-on-year to 10.3 million tons in April.
Asian LNG prices at the end of April were down 11.3% from the same period last year and 43% from the peak in October last year.
Customs data also showed that exports of refined oil products, including diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel and marine fuel, increased by 21.46% year-on-year to 4.55 million tons.
