China imported 635,086 tonnes of fuel oil from Russia in November 2011, up by 98% month on month, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs.
The surge was mostly because of Shandong independent refiners' strong demand for straight-run fuel oil, market sources said.
China also boosted fuel oil imports from Venezuela in November. It raised imports from the latter by 12% month on month to 374,834 tonnes, versus none in the same month in 2010, the data showed.
The CFR premiums of Venezuelan fuel oil went up by about $2/tonne to $17/tonne in November delivery to Shandong, thanks to quite strong demand, market sources said.
Russia, Venezuela, Singapore and South Korea were the four biggest fuel oil suppliers for China in November, the data indicated.
