AlwaysFree: China’s Spending On Russian Energy Nears $60 Billion Since War

• Imports of crude, natural gas and coal all climbed last month
• Purchases from Russia of refined copper and nickel slumped

According to Bloomberg article published on November 21, 2022, China continued to boost Russian energy imports last month, as purchases of natural gas, coal, crude oil and oil products increased to nearly $60 billion since the invasion of Ukraine, from about $35 billion a year ago.

Sales in Russia rose despite a significant weakening of Chinese imports in October. China's slowing economy limited shipments of goods from gas to copper, though crude purchases were a bright spot as refiners reacted to the prospect of a surge in fuel exports after Beijing issued its biggest quota of the year.

According to Chinese customs data, oil imports from Russia rose 16% to 7.72 million tons last month, a volume second only to Saudi Arabia.

The European Union is going to ban the financing, insurance and shipment of Russian oil from December 5, forcing importers to seek workarounds that do not involve banks, insurance clubs and shipowners from the bloc.

Russian sales of liquefied natural gas rose by more than half from a year earlier to 756,000 tons in October, despite a 34 percent drop in China's total purchases of the supercooled fuel. China has not reported imports through pipelines, the main delivery channel for Russian gas, since the beginning of the year.

Coal imports from Russia increased 26 percent to 6.4 million tons. About 2.4 million tons of them were coking coal for the steel industry, which is three times more than a year ago, although slightly less than the record set in September.

Thus, total Russian energy purchases, including petroleum products, totaled $7.7 billion last month, up slightly from the revised $7.6 billion for September, but well above last year's $5.4 billion. This adds up to about $59.5 billion since the start of the war in Ukraine.

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