Despite the trade war, China prepares to receive the largest shipment of US crude

Chinese Unipec hired a supertanker to ship US crude to China in September, the first since US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports, ending a one-month trade truce, announced market sources.

Unipec, the commercial arm of Chinese oil refiner Sinopec, has signed an agreement that Supertanker Ann will ship US crude oil in mid-September, according to the shipping broker and data from Refinitiv Icon.

An oil tanker Ann is able to carry about 2 million barrels of oil.

The data showed that Unipec had three other tankers being loaded or preparing to leave the United States this month.

According to Refinitiv Ship Tracking data, China is expected to receive nearly 11 million barrels of US crude in August, its largest volume since June 2018.

It is expected to reach an additional 4.1 million barrels in September.

According to market sources, tankers loaded in August and September are expected to arrive in China in October and November.

China was the third largest US crude buyer in June, which was relatively calm in the context of a protracted trade war between the two largest economies in the world.

Since then, Trump has announced new tariffs, and although China has imposed tariffs on most imports from the United States, it has largely excluded crude oil.

US crude purchases in China fell sharply from record highs last year.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday at the White House that the United States would continue to refrain from doing business with Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei Technologies.

"We are working very well with China, we are talking to China, we are not ready to reach an agreement, but we will see what happens," he said.

"China wants to do something, but I am not yet ready to do anything, 25 years of abuse.

Trump said the US would not be doing business with Huawei at the moment, although that may change if both countries reach a trade deal.