Tankers: China’s Crude Oil Imports on the Rise

Exports from the Arabian Gulf plunged by -23.6% y-o-y to 218.8 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026, and accounted for 31.7% of global seaborne crude trade, down sharply from the historical norm of about 40%, reflecting the ongoing war in the Persian Gulf. Exports from Russian ports (including oil of Kazakh origin) declined by -1.5% y-o-y to 73.8 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026, or 10.7% of global trade. From South America, exports surged by +29.1% y-o-y to 89.8 mln t. From the USA, exports increased by +8.9% y-o-y to 66.4 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026. From West Africa, exports decreased by -8.0% y-o-y to 52.5 mln t. From ASEAN exports jumped by +30.9% y-o-y to 42.7 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026 (this inevitably includes transshipped Iranian, Russian cargoes)”.      According to Banchero Costa, “i terms of demand (measured by arrival at discharge ports), the top seaborne importer of crude oil in Jan-Apr 2026 was Mainland China, accounting for 23.1% of global trade. Volumes into China increased marginally by +1.0% y-o-y to 161.5 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026, from 159.9 mln t in Jan-Apr 2025. Imports into the EU27 increased by +2.0% y-o-y to 150.6 mln t, accounting for 21.6% of global trade. To ASEAN, imports decreased by -7.9% y-o-y to 85.0 mln t. Imports to India declined by -2.9% y-o-y to 79.0 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026. To South Korea, imports declined by -15.6% y-o-y to 37.0 mln t. To Japan, imports fell by -26.6% y-oy to 28.5 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026. Imports into the USA up by +22.1% y-o-y to 43.3 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026”.     

“Mainland China is right now the largest importer of crude oil in the world, with a 23.1% share, once again ahead of the European Union’s 19.3% share. In Jan-Dec 2025, imports into China declined marginally by -0.3% y-o-y to 506.5 mln tonnes. In Jan–Apr 2026, crude import volumes into China rose marginally by +1.0% y-o-y to 161.5 mln tonnes. About 77.2 percent of volumes discharged in China in Jan–Apr 2026 were carried in VLCCs, about 5.3 percent were carried in Suezmaxes, and 16.8 percent in Aframaxes. Main crude oil import terminals in China are: Dongjiakou (18.3 mln tonnes in Jan– Apr 2026), Ningbo/Zhoushan (15.3 mln t), Lanshan (14.3), Dalian (10.1), Beilun (9.2), Qingdao (8.2), Zhoushan (7.8), Tianjin (7.1), Huizhou (6.7), Zhanjiang (6.6), Longkou (6.4), Yangpu (5.7), Yantai (5.7), Cezi (5.5), Shuidong (5.2), and Quanzhou (5.0)”, the shipbroker said.    

 “In terms of sources of the shipments, much of China’s oil imports arrives from the Middle East. In Jan-Apr 2026, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as the single largest exporter to China, accounting for 12.9% of volumes, narrowly ahead of Saudi Arabia at 12.8%. In Jan-Apr 2026, China imported 20.7 mln tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia, down -17.3% y-o-y on the same period of last year. In the same period, imports from Iraq to China decreased by -39.9% yo-y to 12.7 mln t, and from Kuwait by -59.0% y-o-y to 2.0 mln t. Volumes from the UAE to China decreased by -21.5% y-o-y to 7.5 mln t, and from Oman increased by +10.0% y-o-y to 12.2 mln t. Direct shipments from Russia surged by +49.7% y-o-y in Jan-Apr 2026 to 20.9 mln t. Imports from ASEAN (which includes some trans-shipment of Iranian and Russian oil) increased by +3.5% y-o-y to 19.6 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026, and from West Africa decreased by -6.6% y-o-y to 15.9 mln t. Volumes from Canada rose to 3.9 mln t in Jan-Apr 2026 from 2.9 mln t in the same period in Jan-Apr 2025”, Banchero Costa concluded.