China is expected to keep crude oil imports in September broadly in line with August at around 7.2 million barrels per day, extending the recent recovery in shipments as global oil prices move back above $100 a barrel.
According to Nikkei Asia, preliminary vessel-tracking data from Kpler shows Chinese crude imports at about 7.2 million bpd for September, little changed from the previous month.
The cargoes arriving in September were purchased when crude was trading well below $100 a barrel. Still, the gradual rebound in Chinese buying after the decade low seen in June is being watched as a factor that could add further upward pressure to oil prices.
In recent weeks, Chinese refiners have been replenishing crude inventories while prices were still in the $80s per barrel.
China’s crude imports rose for a second straight month in August as refiners increased purchases from suppliers outside the Middle East and expanded overseas fuel shipments after export restrictions were eased.
Official Chinese customs data showed that the country imported 37.93 million tons, or 8.93 million bpd, of crude oil in August. That was 6.2% higher than in July and marked a further recovery from the decade low recorded in June.
Even so, August imports were still 23.4% below the level of the same month last year, although they were a clear improvement from June’s 7.1 million bpd.
In June, China cut total crude imports to their lowest level in a decade after three months of weak buying caused by high prices and constrained Middle Eastern supply.
The report says Beijing had built up roughly 1.4 billion barrels of crude before the war, giving it room to sharply reduce purchases. In June, import volumes were estimated to be 4.4 million bpd below the 2025 average.
Imports began to recover in July and the trend continued in August, helped by higher flows from the Middle East, increased purchases of Russia’s ESPO grade, and diversification into previously unusual supply sources such as Argentina.
