China purchases half of Brazil's oil exports amid Middle East disruptions

China has become a dominant consumer of Brazilian petroleum, purchasing half of all crude oil exported by Brazil during the first three quarters of the year. According to the Brazil-China Business Council, oil sales to Chinese markets rose by 49 percent to reach a record $21.8 billion between January and September.

This surge was driven by maritime disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz following military conflicts involving Iran. As security bottlenecks in the Persian Gulf created supply vulnerabilities for Asian importers, refiners pivoted toward stable suppliers in the Atlantic basin. China is currently purchasing over one million barrels of Brazilian crude per day, occasionally exceeding 1.6 million barrels.

While soybeans remain Brazil’s largest export to China at 35.4 percent, oil has grown to account for 25.8 percent of shipments. Total bilateral trade between the two nations reached approximately $143 billion during this nine-month period. Although Brazilian oil exports to all buyers increased by 28.7 percent, the pace of expansion has begun to taper as maritime traffic through Middle Eastern chokepoints normalizes.