China’s independent refineries boosted imports of discounted crudes from Venezuela, Iran, and Russia by 32.8% month on month to 8.3 million mt, or 1.96 million b/d, in July via the Shandong and Tianjin ports, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed Aug. 10. Not registered? Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now The volume accounted for 79.7% of the sector’s total feedstock imports via the ports, compared with 83.7% in June, according to S&P Global data. The independent refineries continued to take advantage of cheaper crudes to lift run rates to about 71% in July, from 68.9% in June, according to local information provider JLC. In July, the independent refiners continued increasing ESPO and Urals imports, leading Russian inflows to surge 56% from June, S&P Global data showed. China’s independent refineries were the dominant buyers in the market in July importing 76%, or 2.3 million […]