China imported up to half of Vietnam’s exported crude oil in the first quarter of this year, according to the Vietnam General Customs Department.

The department said that between January and March, Vietnam exported over 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil, earning USD637 million, down 16% in the volume but up 27% in the value.   

Vietnam exported over 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil in the first quarter of this year.

Of the figure, China imported 704,000 tonnes at USD293 million or at VND9.4 million (USD416) per tonne on average. 

The price of exported crude oil to China was considerably lower than that paid by other importers such as Japan with VND9.8 million per tonne; Singapore with VND9.5 million per tonne and Thailand with VND9.8 million per tonne.

Since 2014 when crude oil prices sharply dropped, China has increased imports from Vietnam. 

In the first quarter of 2016, China imported 1.1 million tonnes of Vietnam's crude oil, compared to 330,800 tonnes; 223,000 tonnes and 81,000 tonnes of the same period of 2015, 2014 and 2013 respectively.

China’s higher crude oil import is aimed to add to the country’s crude oil reserves.

Between January and March this year, China imported 9.21 million barrels of crude oil per day on average, compared to 8.15 million barrels of the US.

Dtinews