China also bought more diesel and slashed gasoline exports by almost 33pc to fuel growing demand for the auto fuel as the number of car owners rise. Crude imports in July were 9.6 million tonnes, 2.32m barrels a day, up 40.7pc year on year, customs data showed, That took the total for the first seven months to 70.6m tonnes (2.49m bpd), up 39.5pc from the year-earlier period. State refiners, which supply around 90pc of the domestic market, continued to pump at full tilt in July at 22.9 million tonnes, or 5.54m bpd, 13pc higher than a year ago, data from the State Statistical Bureau showed. China boosted diesel imports by 175pc in July from a year earlier, though it fell 38pc from June, the General Administration of Customs said. A longer-than-expected delay by Beijing to raise domestic pump price has partly fuelled higher demand. The delay also encouraged stockpiling by independent dealers and end-users, who speculate that domestic markets would track record-high global prices, steaming towards $50 a barrel for US light crude. PIN//Gulf Daily News