Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- China’s net crude-oil imports declined to the lowest level in more than a year as a slowdown in the world’s third-largest economy cut demand.

Net imports dropped by 10 percent to 12.37 million metric tons in January, about 2.9 million barrels a day, the lowest since December 2007, according to calculations based on data posted on the Web site of the Beijing-based Customs General Administration of China.

Fuel demand growth has fallen as manufacturers shut plants and cut production because of declining export orders. China’s oil demand will grow at a “noticeably lower rate” this year as the economy slows, China National Petroleum Corp., the country’s biggest oil producer, said yesterday.

The fall in imports is “of no surprise,” Gordon Kwan, head of China energy research at CLSA Ltd., said in an e-mail today. The decline is “consistent with the anecdotal evidence of factory shutdowns that we’ve observed in the past few months,” Kwan said, adding he expected another “weak number” in February.

Crude-oil imports dropped by 8 percent to 12.82 million tons from a year earlier while overseas shipments of the fuel more than doubled, rising 156 percent to 450,000 tons, the customs said today.

China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, may face an energy oversupply within the next two years as the global recession slows the country’s economy, Wang Siqiang, a deputy director at the National Energy Administration, said on Dec. 12.

Economy, Exports

China’s economy expanded at the slowest pace in seven years in the fourth quarter of 2008. Exports fell by the most in almost 13 years, today’s customs data show.

The country may enact a stimulus plan for the refining and petrochemicals industry before the legislature gathers in March, an official at the state-backed China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association said Feb. 3.

China will take advantage of current lower prices to boost imports of oil and natural gas as it builds reserves, Zhang Guobao, head of the energy administration, said on Dec. 29. The benchmark oil price in New York has fallen more than 70 percent from its July’s record of $147.27 a barrel.

“Let’s wait and see if the import figures could turn up starting from the second quarter following the recent stimulus measures or through China’s strategic reserves buying,” Kwan said.

The nation’s coal exports fell by 36 percent to 3.66 million tons, the customs said, without giving import figures. Oil- product imports declined by 26 percent to 2.39 million tons and exports dropped 6.5 percent to 1.13 million tons, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 11, 2009 01:27 EST