AFP

China ramped up crude oil imports from Russia in May, customs data showed Monday, helping to offset losses from Western nations scaling back Russian energy purchases over the invasion of Ukraine.

The spike means Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China’s top oil provider as the West sanctions Moscow’s energy exports.

The world’s second-biggest economy imported around 8.42 million tonnes of oil from Russia last month — a 55 percent rise on-year.

Beijing has refused to publicly condemn Moscow’s war and has instead exacted economic gains from its isolated neighbour.

It imported 7.82 million tonnes of oil from Saudi Arabia in May.

China bought $7.47 billion worth of Russian energy products last month, about $1 billion more than in April, according to Bloomberg News.

The new customs data comes four months into the war in Ukraine, with buyers from the United States and Europe shunning Russian energy imports or pledging to slash them over the coming months.

Asian demand is helping to staunch some of those losses for Russia, especially buyers from China and India.

India bought six times more Russian oil from March to May compared with the same period last year, while imports by China during that period trippled, data from research firm Rystad Energy shows.  

“For now, it is just pure economics that Indian and Chinese refiners are importing more Russian-origin crude oil… as such oil is cheap,” said analyst Wei Cheong Ho.

According to the International Energy Agency’s latest global oil report, India has overtaken Germany in the last two months as the second-largest importer of Russian crude.

China has been Russia’s biggest market for crude oil since 2016.

– ‘No limits’ –

Days before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s President Xi Jinping greeted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing where the two countries declared a bilateral relationship of “no limits”.

Although demand in China remains muted due to Covid restrictions, there has been some improvement in the past month as cities loosen controls after the country’s worst outbreak since the early days of the pandemic.

This has allowed supply chain problems to ease and industrial production to pick up, official data shows.

China’s overall imports from Russia spiked 80 percent in May from a year ago to $10.3 billion, according to customs data.

Beijing’s purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas surged 54 percent on-year to 397,000 tonnes, even as overall imports of the fuel fell.

China has been accused of providing a diplomatic shield for Russia by criticising Western sanctions on Moscow and arms sales to Kyiv.

– Joint goals –

Once bitter Cold War rivals, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation in recent years as a counterbalance to what they see as US global dominance.

This month they unveiled the first road bridge linking the countries, connecting the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the northern Chinese city of Heihe.

Last week Xi assured Putin of China’s support on Russian “sovereignty and security” in a call between the two leaders. 

The Kremlin said the pair had agreed to ramp up economic cooperation in the face of “unlawful” Western sanctions.

The West has implemented unprecedented sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its war in Ukraine, forcing Moscow to find new markets and suppliers to replace foreign firms that have left Russia following the invasion.

The 27-nation European Union agreed in late May to a package of sanctions that would halt the majority of Russian oil imports.

The United States has already banned all Russian oil but European nations are much more dependent on these imports.

Energy is a major source of income for Putin’s government, and Western nations are trying to isolate Moscow and impede its ability to continue the war.

Europe’s main stock markets rose on Monday after a mixed Asian session, as traders set aside recession fears and French political uncertainty.

Bitcoin regained $20,000 after sinking to an 18-month low of $17,599 in weekend deals because risk-averse investors had shunned the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.

London equities rallied 1.0 percent in midday deals on Monday, with sentiment boosted by news of a blockbuster takeover offer for publisher Euromoney.

But the eurozone was more muted. Frankfurt stocks were up 0.5 percent and Paris gained just 0.3 percent, while oil prices languished on stubborn demand concerns.

Markets were rocked last week by a fierce sell-off after the US Federal Reserve’s sharp interest rate hike — the biggest in nearly 30 years — and a warning of more to come as inflation soars.

“Stability often comes before recovery and markets being more composed would suggest investors are no longer panicking,” said Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell.

Investors digested news that French President Emmanuel Macron and his allies faced political deadlock after losing their parliamentary majority in a stunning blow for the president and his reform plans.

Wall Street, shut on Monday for a US public holiday, had risen on Friday.

There is a sense among traders, however, that stock markets still have some way down to go before they find a bottom, with data suggesting economies are beginning to feel the pinch.

Cleveland Fed chief Loretta Mester added to the worry. She said the risk of a recession in the United States was increasing and it would take several years to bring inflation down from four-decade highs to the bank’s two percent target.

She told CBS’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday that while she was not predicting a contraction, the Fed’s decision not to act sooner to fight rising prices was hurting the economy.

Analysts warned there was likely to be more pain ahead for traders as the Ukraine war drags on and uncertainty continues to reign.

Oil prices slid on Monday, extending Friday’s hefty losses on demand worries caused by the prospect of a world recession.

However, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said prices could continue to surge if the European Union cuts off imports of the commodity from Russia in response to the Ukraine war.

– Key figures at around 1115 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 7,085.94 points

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 13,192.85

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 5,900.21

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,457.35

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,771.22 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 21,163.91 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,315.43 (close)

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 29,888.78 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0538 from $1.0499 late Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2256 from $1.2241

Euro/pound: UP at 85.98 pence from 85.77 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 134.74 yen from 135.02 yen

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $112.72 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $109.38

Brussels Airport cancelled all outbound flights on Monday after most security staff joined a nationwide strike for better pay as soaring inflation hit workers’ purchasing power.

The stoppage kicked off a week of travel chaos in several parts of Europe, notably a massive rail strike in Britain from Tuesday and, later on, strikes hitting the continent’s biggest airline Ryanair in multiple countries.

Brussels Airport informed passengers on its site and social media that all departing flights were scrapped for the day — 232 in total.

Only a quarter of arriving flights were still operating. Freight traffic was unaffected.

The departure hall at the airport was largely empty, with only around 100 passengers inside, some lining up to change tickets or get assistance while others slumped resignedly in seats or slept on the floor.

Oleksandr Zayikin, a Ukrainian merchant mariner who had been away for four months, told AFP the strike had prevented a reunion with his wife in Istanbul. He had left before Russia’s invasion of his country.

“I’m upset,” the 29-year-old said, adding he would now probably find a Brussels hotel for a few days.

“In Ukraine it’s not a usual thing, we don’t have such strikes. But I really respect that people do that,” he said.

Maria Antonia, a 20-year-old Romanian student who had a flight booked to return to Bucharest, didn’t see the last-minute messages the airport had written for passengers from late Sunday.

“We didn’t know it was cancelled until we got to the airport,” she said.

“That was a little bit of a hassle. But we can manage it I think.”

Passengers were told to contact their airline to reschedule their flights or seek a refund.

German travel group TUI arranged to have flights that were to have left from Brussels take off from some regional Belgian airports.

The national strike in Belgium was called by the three main unions to push for higher salaries as inflation sent the cost of living higher.

A demonstration was to take place later Monday in the centre of Brussels, with unions expecting up to 70,000 people to march.

China ramped up crude oil imports from Russia in May, customs data showed Monday, helping to offset losses from Western nations scaling back Russian energy purchases over the invasion of Ukraine.

The spike means Russia has now overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China’s top oil provider as the West continues to sanction Moscow’s energy exports.

The world’s second-biggest economy imported around 8.42 million tonnes of oil from Russia last month — a 55 percent on-year rise — as Beijing continues to refuse to publicly condemn Moscow’s war while exacting economic gains from its isolated neighbour.

China imported 7.82 million tonnes of oil from Saudi Arabia in May.

In total, China bought $7.47 billion worth of Russian energy products last month, about $1 billion more than April, according to Bloomberg News.  

The new customs data comes four months into the war in Ukraine, with buyers from the US and Europe shunning Russian energy imports or pledging to slash them over the coming months.

But while European powers are scaling back and Russia’s energy exports are falling, Asian demand is helping to staunch some of those losses, especially in China and India.

According to the International Energy Agency’s latest global oil report, India has overtaken Germany as the second-largest importer of Russian crude in the last two months. 

China has been Russia’s biggest market for crude oil since 2016. 

– ‘No limits’ –

Days before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s President Xi Jinping greeted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing, with the two countries declaring a bilateral relationship of “no limits”. 

Although demand in China remains muted, there has been some improvement in the past month as cities began to loosen virus restrictions after the country’s worst Covid outbreak since the early days of the pandemic.

This has allowed some supply chain problems to ease and industrial production to pick up, official data showed.

China’s overall imports from Russia spiked 80 percent from a year ago in May to $10.3 billion, customs data added.

Apart from oil, Beijing’s purchases of liquefied natural gas from Russia also surged 54 percent on-year in May to 397,000 tonnes, even as overall imports of the fuel fell.

Beijing — which has repeatedly refused to condemn Moscow’s bloody invasion of Ukraine — has also been accused of providing a diplomatic shield for Russia by blasting Western sanctions and arms sales to Kyiv.

Once bitter Cold War enemies, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation in recent years as a counterbalance to what they see as US global dominance.

– Joint goals –

Earlier this month they unveiled the first road bridge linking the two countries, connecting the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the northern Chinese city of Heihe.

Last week, President Xi Jinping assured President Vladimir Putin of China’s support on Russian “sovereignty and security” on a call between the two leaders. 

The Kremlin said the pair had agreed to ramp up economic cooperation in the face of “unlawful” Western sanctions.

The West has adopted unprecedented sanctions against Russia in retaliation for its war in Ukraine, and Moscow is looking for new markets and suppliers to replace the major foreign firms that left Russia following the invasion.

The 27-nation European Union agreed in late May to a package of sanctions that would halt the majority of Russian oil imports.

While the United States had already banned Russian oil, European nations are much more dependent on those imports.

Energy is a major source of income for Putin’s government, and Western nations are trying to isolate Moscow and impede Moscow’s ability to continue the war.

Markets were mixed Monday having pared earlier losses but sentiment continues to be clouded by fears that central bank moves to rein in soaring inflation will induce a recession.

The tepid performances come after a sell-off last week fuelled by the Federal Reserve’s sharp interest rate hike — the biggest in nearly 30 years — and a warning of more to come, while increases in Britain and Switzerland added to the gloom.

And while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw gains on Friday, there is a sense that indexes still have some way down to go before they find a bottom, with economic data suggesting economies are beginning to feel the pinch.

Cleveland Fed chief Loretta Mester added to the worry, saying that the risk of a recession in the United States was increasing and it would take several years to bring inflation down from four-decade highs to the bank’s two percent target.

She told CBS’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday that while she was not predicting a contraction, the Fed’s decision not to act sooner to fight rising prices was hurting the economy.

In Asian trade Monday, Tokyo, Shanghai Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok and Wellington were all in the red, though there were gains in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta.

London edged up, Paris fell and Frankfurt was flat.

Analysts warned there was likely to be more pain ahead for traders as the Ukraine war drags on and uncertainty continues to reign.

“Central banks’ hawkish rhetoric and concerns over a global economic slowdown/recession (are) not helping sentiment and at this stage it is hard to see a turn in fortunes until we see evidence of a material ease in inflationary pressures,” said National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril.

And Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management added: “Most of these major central banks are praying for some relief from inflation and hoping the data falls in line, but unless there is a detente in the Ukraine-Russia war, escalation will continue to drive energy price fears so it could be a tough road ahead.”

Oil prices were also mixed Monday after suffering a hefty drop Friday over demand worries caused by a possible recession.

However, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said prices could continue to surge if the European Union cuts off imports of the commodity from Russia in response to the Ukraine war.

She said Joe Biden had called on global suppliers to ramp up output to help temper the price rises, with the president to discuss the issue during an upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia next month.

Bitcoin remained stuck below $20,000 but was up from the $17,599 touched at the weekend, its lowest level since December 2020.

“Rising interest rates, an acute risk-off mood across markets, a thinning of liquidity is all to blame: in short the end of free money from the Fed means the artificial pump that created these assets is no longer working,” said Neil Wilson at Markets.com.

– Key figures at around 0810 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,771.22 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 21,163.91 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,315.43 (close)

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,023.44

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 134.73 yen from 134.99 yen late Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2227 from $1.2221

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0513 from $1.0493

Euro/pound: UP at 85.97 pence from 85.83 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $109.85

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $113.00 a barrel

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 29,888.78 (close)

— Bloomberg News contributed to this story —