China’s crude oil imports from top supplier Russia fell 20% in June year-on-year, bringing the total for the first half of 2024 up 5%, official data showed on Saturday, as refiners, pressured by weakened margins, chased discounted barrels.

Russian oil arrivals, including via pipelines and shipments, totalled 8.43 million metric tons last month, or 2.05 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

That’s down from 2.1 million bpd in May and from the all-time high in June 2023 of 2.56 million bpd.

The moderating Russian imports in June were in part due to weaker demand from China’s independent oil processors, as thinning margins amid poor domestic fuel demand forced them to scale back operations to the lowest level since early 2020.

Demand for Russia’s Urals crude loaded from European ports was also subdued as Red Sea tensions kept freight rates high.

Shipments from No. 2 supplier Saudi Arabia totalled 6.82 million tons, down 14% on the year. Year-to-date volumes fell 13% year-on-year to 40.38 million tons, or 1.62 million bpd.

China’s total crude oil imports slumped 11% from the record high a year earlier while imports for the first six months recorded a rare annual decline of 2.3%, dragged by weaker-than-expected domestic demand as the world’s second-largest economy struggled to recover.

Imports from Malaysia, a top transshipment hub for sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela, were 5.9 million tons, making it the third-largest supplier for June.

Imports from Malaysia amounted to 29.49 million tons for the first half of the year, up 14% year-on-year.

China did not record any imports from Iran or Venezuela last month.

Imports from Angola posted a robust 58% year-on-year growth last month at 2.93 million tons, which was also up from May’s 1.85 million tons. Relatively weaker prices of Brent oil, against which Angolan oil is priced, made the supplies attractive.

Shipments from the United States were down 60% year-on-year at 1.21 million tons in June while imports from Brazil fell 16% to 2.83 million tons.

Below are the details of imports from key suppliers with volume in million metric tons:

(Metric ton = 7.3 barrels for crude oil conversion)

Source: Reuters, reported by Colleen Howe and Chen Aizhu and edited by Sam Holmes