It’s probably best to look at China’s extremely strong commodity imports in March as a history lesson, rather than a pointer to future trends. Record high imports of crude oil, the second-most for iron ore and a 34 percent surge in the first quarter for coal from the same period in 2016 all speak of robust demand in the world’s importer of commodities. However, the chances are that this is as good as it gets, at least for a while. This isn’t to suggest that commodity imports are due for a sharp pullback in coming months, rather the likelihood is that they will moderate back toward more sustainable growth rates. Crude oil imports surged 22.6 percent from February to 38.95 million tonnes, equivalent to about 9.17 million barrels per day (bpd). This was […]