China’s Commodity Imports Off To A Good Start To 2024

Chinese commodity imports remained robust in January despite signs of a still struggling economy and cautionary reading of the data that may have been distorted by the start of the Lunar New Year later this week. The Chinese New Year holiday, which this year falls between February 9 and 15, may have prompted buyers to purchase crude, LNG, coal, and iron ore in advance.   Nevertheless, China’s imports of these commodities were estimated at close to December levels, suggesting that other factors – including lower oil and spot LNG…