BY CLYDE RUSSELL
LAUNCESTON, Australia- Crude oil prices are tumbling in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s upending of global trade.
But the shock of Trump’s tariffs also mask some underlying weakness in the demand that was already in place, namely soft imports in the first quarter in Asia, the world’s biggest crude purchasing region.
Asia imported 26.44 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in the first quarter, down 640,000 bpd from the 27.08 million bpd for the same period in 2024, according to data compiled by LSEG Oil Research.
The decline in imports contrasts with forecasts made by groups such as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency that Asia will lead global oil demand growth in 2025.
If there is a slight silver lining in Asia’s weak first quarter imports, it’s that they did show signs of recovery in March.
The region imported 27.39 million bpd in March, up from 25.44 million bpd in February and roughly in line with the 27.33 million bpd from March last year, according to LSEG.
The March recovery was led by China, the world’s biggest crude importer, which saw seaborne arrivals of 10.14 million bpd, the highest in three months.
Adding pipeline imports takes China’s total crude arrivals in March to 11.04 million bpd, above the 10.42 million bpd for the first two months of the year, but still below the 11.6 million bpd recorded for March 2024.
It’s worth asking why China, and indeed the rest of Asia, imported more crude in March than in the first two months of 2025.
There are several factors, such as refiners re-stocking inventories after planned maintenance and ahead of the seasonal rise in demand as the Northern Hemisphere winter ends.
But the most important factor was likely price, with most of March-arriving cargoes being arranged at a time when global crude prices were trending lower. – Reuters
