Cars headed for overseas markets are seen at Lianyungang Port in East China's Jiangsu Province on Wednesday. According to the port, its cargo throughput in the first quarter reached 62.86 million tons, up 3.28 percent year-on-year. Photo: cnsphoto

China's major ports last week reported a 2.1 percent year-on-year rise in crude oil imports as international crude prices tumbled, with ports like Yantai in East China's Shandong Province and North China's Tianjin port posting growth rates higher than 10 percent, data from an industry association showed on Tuesday.

The throughput increase came as global oil prices plummeted into negative territory amid dwindling storage capacities across the world as the OPEC's production cut yielded few results. On Tuesday, the price of US oil benchmark WTI futures fell to as low as -$37.63 a barrel.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's crude oil processing volume in March recovered to 93 percent of its 2019 level.

Metal ore imports also surged thanks to accelerating economic activity resumption, according to the China Ports and Harbors Association.

It said the metal ore throughput in major Chinese ports rose 31.7 percent year-on-year in the week starting April 13, and skyrocketed more than 50 percent in Shandong's Rizhao and Tianjin ports.

However, as the impact of the overseas COVID-19 spread deepens, China's exporters have seen a sharp drop in orders, leading to decreasing shipments. Last week saw container throughput slide 9 percent at eight major ports including Shanghai, Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang Province and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province, the association said.

Global Times