China crude imports collapse to 10-year low

BREAKING: China’s crude oil imports fell 41% YoY in June to 29M tons, or about 7M barrels per day.
That is the lowest level in 10 years.
On a monthly basis, imports dropped by 4M tons, or 12%, to the weakest level in eight years.
Volumes are now down 26M tons from the late-2025 peak, a decline of roughly 47%.
The average monthly import level from 2020 to 2025 was around 45M tons, which makes the June number stand out even more.
Seaborne crude imports were around 6M barrels per day, while Middle East flows fell to their lowest level in a decade.
Iranian oil imports also dropped 40% MoM to below 800K barrels per day.
For $BRENT and $WTI, this is a complicated signal: weaker Chinese imports point to demand stress, while the Iran conflict points to supply disruption risk.