Asia may be a late arrival to the impending crude oil party.
The oil market is largely convinced that a strong recovery in demand is imminent, based on the view that the world is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and economies are rebounding.
Although this may be true for North America and Europe, the top oil-consuming region of Asia is looking somewhat less optimistic, with crude demand in top importers China and India presenting a mixed outlook.
China, the world’s biggest crude buyer, looks set for another month of modest imports in May, as several refineries undergo scheduled maintenance.
India, Asia’s second-biggest importer, also is on track to record a soft May import number, even before the impact of the current coronavirus wave on demand shows up in monthly purchases.
While these are both likely temporary factors, it does signal that the pick-up in Asia’s crude oil demand may not be as rapid as what most analysts are expecting for the rest of the major consuming regions.
China’s seaborne and pipeline crude imports for May are estimated at 43.3 million tonnes, equivalent to about 10.24 million barrels per day (bpd), according to Refinitiv Oil Research.
About 1.2 million bpd of refining capacity is offline in China in May, according to Refinitiv, with most scheduled to restart by the end of June.
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