China’s independent refiners cut sharply crude oil buys from Brazil since the start of 2021, according to data compiled by S&P Global Platts.
Brazilian crude buys fell 47.9% from January to October, to 11,353 mt, despite an 87.2% month-on-month surge to 322,000 mt in October.
“Brazil was previously a top crude supplier to China’s independent refineries behind Russia and Saudi Arabia, but quality issues with some cargoes have prompted some of the refiners to look for alternatives”, S&P Global Platts says, quoting market sources.
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So far, Brazil is the sixth biggest supplier to China’s independent refiners, ahead of Angola, that also say its sales drop, -17.2%, to 10,745 mt.
Malaysia overtook Russia to become the top feedstock supplier to China’s independent refineries over January-October due to continuing demand for various blended crudes and strong appetite for bitumen blend, with imports from Malaysia rising 96.3% year on year to 23.9 million mt over the 10-month period.
While total crude imports by China’s independent refiners were down almost 25% year on year at 13.087 million mt in October, supply from Russia edged up 0.5% to 2.48 million mt in the month and was up 8.6% from September.
