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Russia Overtakes Saudi Arabia as China’s Largest Oil Supplier

BY Soko Directory Team · May 27, 2020 12:05 pm

Russia was the largest oil supplier to China for April overtaking its closest rivals Saudi Arabia who dropped to the third position as Iran climbed to second.

Data from the General Administration of Customs revealed that oil imports rose by 18 percent compared to the same month last year as the price war between the two largest oil producers caused a drop in the cost of raw materials.

Russia topped the suppliers’ list after it shipped 7.2 million tons (1.7 million barrels per day) last month an increase compared to April 2019’s 1.49 billion barrels per day.

Saudi Arabia on the other had dropped after it supplied only 1.26 million barrels per day as compared to last year’s supply of 1.53 million barrels per day.

Chinese refiners are said to have taken advantage of the slumped oil prices in recent days which boosted imports up by 1.7 percent for the first four months of 2020.

However, according to experts, Saudi Arabia will soon recover from the loss of market share to Russia which they say is only temporary.

Since China is the world’s largest importer, it presented a better battleground for the two largest importers, but apparently, Saudi Arabia was focused on increasing its supply to the Western countries during the period under review.

“It is clear that Saudi was targeting to increase its market share in the West during April,” said an IHS expert who spoke to Bloomberg adding that Saudi imports to China could more than double in May.

“Saudi is now reducing output and shipments, but is expected to focus on China again.”

Meanwhile, OilPrice.com reported that oil prices have increased whereas the demand has shrunk following the restrictions imposed by countries in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. The demand is expected to rise once the restrictions are eased in May or June.

Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory

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