Oil prices dip on weak China imports
more strident if the yuan’s sharp drop in recent months raises the ire of the United States, which has in the past repeatedly criticised Beijing for manipulating its currency to gain an unfair trade advantage.
Economists say China appears to be taking a more hands-off approach to the yuan, which marked its worst 4-month fall on record between April and July and has provided some reprieve for exporters in the face of the rising trade tensions.
ANZ senior China economist Betty Wang said Beijing will likely resist using its closely managed currency as a tool in the trade war. “Currency devaluation, which may have helped exports to some extent, has been largely market-driven in our view and is not a preferred policy tool by Chinese policy makers as part of the retaliation measures,” Wang said. — Reuters SINGAPORE: Oil prices dipped on Wednesday after China reported relatively weak import data, although the market remained well supported by falling US crude inventories and the introduction of sanctions against Iran.
Front-month Brent crude oil futures LCOC1 were at $74.50 per barrel at 0651 GMT, down 15 cents, or 0.2 per cent, from their last close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLC1 were at $69.15 per barrel, down 2 cents.
China’s July crude oil imports recovered slightly in July after falling for the previous two months, but were still among the lowest this year due to a drop-off in demand from the country’s smaller independent, or “teapot”, refineries.
Shipments into the world’s biggest importer of crude came in at 36.02 million tonnes last month, or 8.48 million bpd, up from 8.18 million bpd a year ago, and just up on June’s 8.36 million bpd, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
However, July imports were still the third-lowest so far this year.
Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures said on Wednesday that an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China has “unnerved investors on the prospect of lowered global oil demand growth.”
* China’s export growth rises in July despite US tariffs * China warns against ‘raising stick of hegemony’ over tariffs * State media says China can weather storm, uses softer tone
Markets were still supported by the introduction of new US sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, which initially target Iran’s purchases of US dollars — in which oil is traded — metals trading, coal, industrial software and its auto sector.
From November, Washington will also target Iran’s petroleum sector. Iran is the third-largest producer among the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). It shipped out almost 3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in September, equivalent to around 3 per cent of global demand.
Beyond the sanctions, the oil market was focusing on the US market, where the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday that crude inventories fell by 6 million barrels in the week to August 3 to 407.2 million.
— Reuters