Japan pivots to US crude as April imports hit record low in Freight News 04/06/2026 Japan’s crude imports fell to a record low in April due to Persian Gulf tanker disruptions, but inflows may recover to about 2 million barrels/day in June amid the arrival of delayed Middle East cargoes, increased US crude purchases and new supply collaborations with South Korea, according to the trade ministry and refining industry sources over May 29-June 2. Japan imported 853,329 b/d of crude in April, down 65.7% year over year and 59.5% month over month, the latest data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry issued May 29 showed. “This was the lowest since data [became] available online after 1989,” a METI official told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, on May 29. Most March spot and term cargoes loaded with Arab Extra Light, Arab Light, Arab Heavy, Kuwait Export Crude, Qatar Marine, Al Shaheen, Upper Zakum, Das Blend and Murban crude grades failed to escape the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz to arrive in Japan on schedule in April, feedstock managers at three Japanese refiners, including the country’s top refiner, ENEOS, told Platts over May 29-June 1. Shipments from top supplier Saudi Arabia in April fell 59% year over year to 369,599 b/d, while UAE crude arrivals tumbled 70.4% year over year to 334,724 b/d, METI data showed. However, refiners have managed to secure prompt-month spot US crude cargoes from the second week of March, with Cosmo Oil receiving a Suezmax cargo of light sweet US crude on April 27 after the tanker took the shorter Pacific Ocean route via the Panama Canal. Japan imported 63,753 b/d of WTI Midland crude from the US in April, up 22% from March, METI data showed. Diversification, collaboration Japan’s crude oil procurement and arrivals are expected to have exceeded 1.5 million b/d in May, while shipments from June are projected to approach 2 million b/d, as several Persian Gulf crude tankers have recently bypassed the Strait of Hormuz cho