BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s imports from Saudi Arabia fell 21% in May from a year earlier but retained their top ranking among suppliers for a ninth month in a row, customs data showed.
Shipments from Saudi Arabia were 7.2 million tonnes last month, or 1.69 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Chinese Customs showed.
That compared to 6.47 million tonnes in April and 9.16 million in May 2020.
Imports from second-largest supplier Russia also dropped from a month earlier, to 5.44 million tonnes, or 1.28 million bpd.
The scale-backs by the top two exporters were in line with a steep annual decline of nearly 15 percent to this year’s lowest total crude imports into China.
Imports from United Arab Emirates arrivals fell 25 percent last month from year-ago levels.