Volume and date
July came in at 8.45 million barrels a day, 35.73 million tonnes in total. The OilPrice.com report attributes the figures to Bloomberg, which cites Chinese customs data. June was a decade low, with imports running about 4.4 million barrels a day below the 2025 average. The difference describes the end of a pause more than one month's purchasing decisions.[1]
What funded the pause?
If a country can buy 4.4 million barrels a day less and keep its refineries running at the same rate, stocks cover the difference. The report says China held 1.397 billion barrels in strategic reserves at the end of 2025, a cushion that let it pause buying during the Middle East disruption. The 22 per cent rise in July may mean that cushion is being refilled. There is an alternative: customs data measure cargoes entering the country while consumption is a separate series, and cargoes landing in July were bought in June or May. Part of the rise may be nothing more than voyage lag.[1]
Where the marginal barrel comes from
The same report says Sinopec, the country's largest refiner, bought between 30 and 40 cargoes of Russian ESPO crude for third-quarter delivery, or between 241,000 and 320,000 barrels a day. The stated reason is to secure cargo arrivals while shipping constraints in the Middle East continue. With the constraint on the shipping side, the marginal barrel arriving from Russia means the recovery in total imports does not have to wait for the constrained route to reopen. If the rise really comes from restocking, daily imports stay above 8 million barrels in August and September as well; if next month's source mix turns back toward the Middle East, the short-haul substitution was a temporary fix.[1]