Saudi crude supplies to China in September surge 45pct from August

Hong Kong (Platts)--1Nov2005

Crude supplies from Saudi Arabia to China in September surged 45.39% from
August to 2.15-mil mt, figures released by the Chinese General Administration
of Customs showed. 
     The September increase for the largest crude supplier to China came on
the back of a 35.57% month-on-month drop in August. The increase in Saudi
imports in September was much larger than the 23.76% growth in the mainland's
total crude imports to 10.85-mil mt for the month. As a result, the market
share of Saudi crude in China inched higher to 19.78% in September, compared
with 16.83% in August. 
     Chinese customs also reported increased crude imports from other major
conventional crude suppliers to China. Climbing four notches to take second
place was Oman with imports of 1.28-mil mt in September, 151.85% higher than 
August's 507,707mt. Iran remained in third place with imports of 1.2-mil mt,
up 21.68% from August. China's Russian imports rose 25.24% during September to
1.05-mil mt.
    Supplies from Yemen, Congo and Indonesia posted large monthly gains in 
September.
     Crude supplies from producers in the Middle East accounted for 53.36%, or
5.79-mil mt, of China's September imports. The volume was 59% higher than
3.64-mil mt in August and in September 2004.
     China's West African crude imports in September, at 1.94-mil mt, were 
down 12.08% from August and 13.11% from a year earlier. Supplies from West
African producers have been on a decline for four consecutive months, from
June's 2.87-mil mt to July's 2.54-mil mt and 2.2-mil mt in August. 
     Meanwhile, Middle East producers continued to dominate China's crude 
imports in the first nine months of 2005. Chinese customs tallied supplies of
46.05-mil mt from the group, or 48.86% of China's total imports of 94.23-mil
mt during the period. The amount was 14.29% higher year-on-year. 
     West African crude supplies to China rose 13.28% to 10.6-mil mt in 
January-September 2005, accounting for 21.86% of China's total during the
period. 
     Russia has established itself as a key crude supplier to China, and
ranked fourth in the top ten list for January-September. Customs processed
8.93-mil mt of Russian imports, up 2.58% year-on-year.

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