Angola’s market share of the oil imported by China slipped to 12 percent in January from 13 percent last year, reports Bloomberg, quoting data from China’s General Administration of Customs.
Saudi Arabia retained the top spot that month among suppliers to China, with a share of 15 percent. But Iraq overtook Angola and Russia to become China’s second-largest oil supplier during January.
China has been ramping up overall crude imports since late 2014, taking advantage of a global collapse in oil prices to build its strategic petroleum reserves. Imports eased off in January, but were still higher than forecast, according to Reuters.