Adds background, Sinopec's comment on falling fuel sales, fuel exports and gas imports in paragraphs 10-14

By Chen Aizhu

May 9 (Reuters) - China's April crude oil imports slowed from the previous month but rose 7.5% from a year earlier due to abundant deliveries of sanctioned shipments and as state refiners built stocks during maintenance shutdowns.

April imports into the world's largest buyer totalled 48.06 million metric tons, according to the General Administration of Customs, equivalent to 11.69 million barrels per day (bpd).

This is lower versus 12.1 million bpd in March but higher compared with 10.88 million bpd in April of 2024.

Following record imports of Iranian oil in March, Iranian shipments including crude oil and condensate - mostly passed off as Malaysian - dipped but stayed strong at near 1.5 million bpd, Vortexa Analytics estimated.

China also brought in a record amount of Russian Arctic barrels totalling about 280,000 bpd in April, compensating for the lower Iranian supplies, Vortexa noted.

Overall purchases in April, including "mainstream", non-sanctioned supplies by state refiners, helped boost the inventories, according to traders and Vortexa.

"Crude stock builds in China's onshore tanks accelerated significantly through April. The average build rate exceeded 1.1  million bpd over the five weeks ending May 4," Vortexa wrote in note this week.

Traders, however, cautioned that some of the Iranian oil delivered over March and April and sitting in tanks struggled to find end-buyers as sanctions worries deter buying from some larger independent plants, deepening discounts to $2.3-$2.4 a barrel over ICE Brent for Iranian Light grade versus $2 previously.

For the first four months, imports stood at 183.03 million tons, or 11.13 million bpd, up 0.5% from the year-ago period, data showed.

However, refiners faced poor margins due to weaker fuel demand.

Refining giant Sinopec last week reported a near 30% fall in quarterly earnings partly blaming a decline in domestic fuel demand. Sinopec's crude throughput fell 1.8% year-on-year during the first quarter and domestic fuel sales dropped 5.3%.

Friday's data also showed April exports of refined oil products, which included diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel and marine fuel, rose 10% on the year to 5.01 million tons. Year-to-date, exports fell 10% on the year to 17.43 million metric tons.

Natural gas imports, including piped gas and liquefied natural gas $(LNG)$, fell 6% last month over a year earlier at 9.67 million tons, and the January-April imports at 38.99 million tons were down 9% versus the same period of 2024.

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(metric ton = 7.3 barrels for crude oil conversion)

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sonali Paul)

((aizhu.chen@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: aizhu.chen.reuters.com@reuters.net))