China and India both saw another month of near-record imports of Russian crude for June, as Russia continued to comfortably beat off Saudi Arabia and Iraq as top supplier in both markets.
Figures from data intelligence firm Kpler peg China’s seaborne imports of Russian crude at 1.443mn b/d for June, only fractionally below March’s record figure of 1.449mn b/d. The latest official Chinese import figures, which include overland pipeline imports of Russian crude – typically 700,000-800,000 b/d – have May at 2.89mn b/d topping March’s 2.26mn b/d for the record high (MEES, 23 June). The latest Kpler stats suggest that June will run these figures close with another month around or above 2.2mn b/d (see chart). (CONTINUED - 648 WORDS)
