Crude purchase plan for June deliveries delayed **March/April likely to see slower crude imports amid outbreak China’s crude oil imports posted a 3.4% year-on-year growth for January and February, despite shrinking oil demand and refinery throughput levels amid the coronavirus outbreak that has wrecked havoc on the country’s economic activity. Chinese importers remain pessimistic about a recovery in oil demand and slowing purchases by refiners mean that official import data is likely to begin reflecting the impact of the coronavirus from March onwards. China’s crude oil imports averaged 10.52 million b/d for the January-February months, compared with an average of 10.16 million b/d over 2019 and 10.76 million b/d in December 2019, preliminary data from General Administration of Customs, or GAC, showed Saturday. It did not publish separate […]