China’s crude imports were again down year-on-year at 11.11mn b/d for September versus 11.18mn b/d for September 2023. Volumes have been down on 2023 for each of the past five months (see chart), with China’s lacklustre demand the key reason both the IEA and Opec again downgraded their 2024 global oil demand growth forecasts this week (MEES, 18 October). For 9M 2024 the world’s top crude importer took 11.03mn b/d, down 3.2% on the year-ago figure of 11.39mn b/d.