Chinese crude oil and natural gas imports fell in March, as the supply crunch in the Arabian Gulf began to affect shipments, reports Bloomberg.
Crude purchases dropped 2.8% from the previous year to 49.982mn tons, although the figure was higher than February, according to China’s customs administration on Tuesday. Imports over the year so far rose 8.9% as China continued to stockpile oil despite weakness in the economy.
Gas imports fell more sharply, down 11% to 8.183 million tons, leaving the year-to-date figure 4% below the pace set in 2025.
Major refiners saw fewer cargoes from Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, after the US and Israeli attack against Iran that began on February 28 effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to traffic. At the same time, the smaller independent plants that had been prepared to ignore sanctions have has their access curtailed to the heavily discounted Iranian crude they’ve relied on to protect razor-thin margins.
Chinese oil product exports fell 12% to 4.601mn tons, after the government imposed curbs to conserve domestic fuel supplies. Beijing has allowed state refiners to tap commercial reserves to help weather an unprecedented supply shock that’s only likely to worsen as the US Navy disputes Iran’s control of the key waterway.
Gas purchases slumped even though nearly half of Chinese supply arrives overland from Russia, Central Asia and Myanmar. China wouldn’t break out its seaborne imports until later this week, but ship-tracking data shows liquefied natural gas cargoes plunged 22% in March from the previous year to 3.74mn tons.
The seaborne market is facing prolonged disruptions. China took roughly a quarter of its LNG from Qatar, which will take years to restore operations after Iranian strikes against the world’s biggest export facility. But with pipelines running at capacity, there’s not much leeway in the short term for China’s overland suppliers to pick up the slack.