China’s imports of Iranian oil have just hit a record high of 1.75 million barrels per day, according to Kpler data.
This surpasses the previous peak of 1.66 million barrels per day reached in October 2023 and is nearly 50% higher than the 1.24 million barrels per day imported in the previous month.
“Chinese refiners’ profits are improving, so they have a strong incentive to ramp up production and, therefore, need more feedstock,” said Muyu, an analyst at Kpler.
The record demand for Iranian oil by China was anticipated when multiple sources confirmed that China imported a record amount of crude oil from Malaysia in July. The world’s largest crude oil importer purchased 6.21 million tons from Malaysia, equivalent to 1.47 million barrels per day, nearly triple the average volume supplied by the Southeast Asian country throughout 2023.
This is a significant indicator as the waters off Malaysia have long been considered a transshipment hub for crude oil and refined products from ship to ship, obscuring the origin of the crude oil, especially from Iran.
According to official government data, China has not purchased any oil from Iran since June 2022. However, in reality, they are buying record amounts.
Iranian oil has become the cheapest option for Chinese buyers, even cheaper than Russian oil. More and more independent refineries are seeking to purchase oil from this OPEC producer to increase their profit margins, according to traders in the market.
They added that Iran’s light crude has recently been sold at a discount of $6 per barrel compared to the benchmark Brent crude – in contrast to the discount of under $1 for equivalent Russian crude oil.
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