China’s crude oil imports from top supplier Russia fell 0.7 per cent year-on-year in December to 9.33 million tonnes, or 2.2 million barrels per day, but hit the highest level for 2025.
Imports from Malaysia, the largest trans-shipment hub for sanctioned Iranian oil, fell 37.9 per cent to 4.14 million tonnes, or 0.97 million barrels per day.
Imports from Indonesia stood at 2.19 million tonnes, or 0.52 million barrels per day, last month, down 13 per cent from 2.52 million tonnes in November. China imported around 0.1 million tonnes of crude from Indonesia for the whole of 2024.
Reuters previously reported that the surge in imports from Indonesia pointed to a way of masking shipments of sanctioned Iranian crude trans-shipped in waters off Malaysia.
Imports from the United Arab Emirates surged 116.4 per cent year-on-year in December to 6.1 million tonnes, or 1.44 million barrels per day, reaching the highest single-month import volume on record.
Imports from Brazil surged 109.6 per cent to 5.4 million tonnes, or 1.27 million barrels per day, reaching a record high.
Imports from the United States have remained at zero since May 2025.
There were no reported imports from Iran or Venezuela in December.
Imports from Canada surged to 2.33 million tonnes, or 0.55 million barrels per day, in December, up 49 per cent from November and 104.5 per cent year-on-year, hitting a record high.
(Reporting by Sam Li and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)