Crude oil prices rise as China’s imports rebound

Crude oil prices increased in the global commodity market on Monday as traders weighed mixed signals about U.S. tariff implementations while data showed that China’s oil imports rebounded. The market expects demand in China to reduce impacts of higher OPEC+ supply in May. China’s crude oil imports in March rebounded sharply from the previous two months and were up nearly 5% from a year earlier, data showed on Monday, boosted by a surge in Iranian oil and a rebound in Russian oil deliveries. Total imports reached 51.41 million metric tons in March, according to the General Administration of Customs, equivalent to 12.1 million barrels per day. Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are both up 0.3% to $64.95 and $61.66 a barrel, respectively. China’s rising oil imports give hope that the economy is on a growth track, with investors now waiting for the release of key economic indicators this week.
Meanwhile, tensions over the US-China trade war saw mild easing after US Customs and Border Protection published a notice on Friday that appeared to exempt electronic products from 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, raising hopes that such items had been spared. However, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick attempted to clarify things on Sunday, saying electronics were not permanently exempt but would instead be subject to new semiconductor-specific tariffs expected in the next month or two as part of a broader strategy. US President Donald Trump also denied reports that his administration had granted a tariff exception for electronics like smartphones and chips, contrary to suggestions late last week that consumer tech products would be spared from sweeping reciprocal tariffs. ‘These products are subject to the existing 20% fentanyl tariffs—they are just moving to a different tariff ‘bucket,” Trump said Sunday on his Truth Social account.
Last week, after an initial drop in prices due to President Trump’s unexpected tariff hike on major trading partners, markets rebounded following his decision to pause the levies for 90 days, except for China. The sudden shifts in US trade policy left the market in two minds, with prices swinging wildly all week’. However, uncertainty is likely to linger,’ Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, said in a note. Meanwhile, the US dollar index, which measures the value of the American dollar against a basket of currencies, fell to 99.014, its lowest level in about three years.
The decline in the value of the greenback is encouraging oil-importing countries to purchase more crude oil at cheaper dollar prices, supporting higher crude prices. The oil rig count in the US decreased by 9 this week, oilfield services company Baker Hughes data showed Friday. The number of oil rigs, an indicator of short-term production in the country, rose to 480 for the week ending April 11. The number of US oil rigs dropped by 26 compared to one year ago. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at $64.76 per barrel at Friday’s trading close, while American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $61.50 a barrel.