Crude shipments slow to 4-month low as stockpiles rise

China's record pace of crude imports is easing as its refiners fill commercial stockpiles and new tanks for holding emergency supplies remain under construction.

Overseas crude purchases totaled 26.81 million metric tons in March, data released on the website of the General Administration of Customs in Beijing showed on Monday. That is equivalent to 6.34 million barrels a day, down 5.2 percent from February and the slowest pace since November.

China accelerated its crude imports last year amid an almost 50 percent collapse in benchmark prices and its buying is now slowing just as the global market struggles to sustain a recovery.