China turns the taps off

Economic growth may be rebounding, but demand for Latin American crude remains minimal

Latin American oil producers have been bracing themselves for especially hard times ever since China shut down its economy due to Covid-19. The Asian giant is the world’s largest crude oil importer and a critical market for Latin America’s state oil firms, accounting for about 40pc of the region’s crude exports in 2018. The 41pc contraction to China’s first-quarter GDP, combined with the global oil price rout, is something of a worst-case scenario for the region’s producers. But China’s crude imports resumed relatively quickly in March as the country strategically boosted stockpiles amid signs of economic recovery. Volumes were up by 4.5pc year-on-year over the month even as the volume of oi