In 2017, crude oil imports into China have decreased slightly compared to 2016 in terms of journeys as well as[ds_preview] in terms of total tonnage. This is true for VLCCs and Suezmax vessels. Aframaxes have seen a quite significant increase in journeys an deadweight tonnage. But in this segment, Chinese owned vessels have also lost more market share compared to 2016 figures and compared to larger vessel types. Chinese-built VLCCs account for nearly half of the tonnage importing crude into China.
Looking at VLCC deliveries in 2016 and 2017, South Korea is clearly dominating the market anagin, being previously outrun by China which hasn’t gained in VLCC orders lately. The Philippines showed up as a new player in the tanker construction market in 2017, although numbers are still low
