[September 18, 2026]- According to South China Morning Post, After months of weak buying during the US–Israel war on Iran, China is lifting crude imports again—an early rebound that could shrink the demand buffer that had kept a larger global price spike in check.
China’s plunging oil imports prevented a bigger price spike after the Iran war broke out, but its crude purchases are now ticking up again.
August seaborne intake rose 6.2% month-on-month to 37.9 million tonnes (highest in four months, still more than 23% below a year earlier); Kpler puts September flows at 7.84 million bpd versus 7.25 million bpd in August and 9.76 million bpd a year ago.
The restock is coinciding with supply-chain shocks: attacks on Saudi Arabia’s East–West pipeline and Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s Novorossiysk export terminal, which have tightened crude availability from two exporters that still hold spare production capacity.
China is rerouting barrels—Iraq shipments jumped from 177,000 bpd in August to over 1 million bpd this month—while purchases from Iran and Saudi Arabia are set to fall.
Analysts do not expect a fast return to pre-war import rates: high crude prices are squeezing Chinese refinery margins, and domestic stockpiles are still large enough to cover several months of runs.
Read the full story on South China Morning Post.
