BEIJING/SINGAPORE: China’s crude oil imports from Malaysia, its third-largest supplier, rose 17.5% in September from the same month last year, customs data showed on Sunday, bucking a broader trend of slowing Chinese imports.

Imports from Malaysia, a major transhipment hub for sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela, were 6.12 million metric tons last month, or 1.49 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Chinese Customs showed.

That was up from 1.77 million bpd in August.

For the first nine months of the year, imports from Malaysia rose 22% from the same period in 2023 to 49.29 million tons.

China’s independent refiners have over the past few years been leaning on discounted supplies from Iran, Russia and Venezuela to weather a broad economic downturn and sluggish fuel demand that cuts into refining profits.

Imports from Saudi Arabia, China’s second-biggest supplier, rose 13% in September to 7.43 million tons, or 1.81 million bpd.

Imports from top supplier Russia, which included shipments from pipelines and seaborne tankers, fell 0.9% to 8.66 million tons, or 2.11 million bpd.

That was down from August’s 2.21 million bpd and 2.13 million bpd in September 2023.

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Volumes from Russia for the year to September rose 1.1%, while those from Saudi Arabia declined 10.8%, as refiners were attracted by cheaper Russian supplies to counter thinning processing margins.

No Iranian or Venezuelan shipments were recorded.

China’s total crude oil imports last month fell 0.6%, the fifth straight decline.