UPDATE 3-China April crude imports dip, quick rebound seen

(Adds analyst comment, write through)

By Chen Aizhu

BEIJING, May 12 (Reuters) - China's April crude oil imports fell from a year ago for the first time in 18 months, data showed on Monday, but analysts said the dip was a one-off adjustment as refiners ran down stocks after unusually high March purchases.

Although refiners in China are suffering losses from Beijing's retail fuel price caps and the rapid rise in crude oil prices, which hit a record over $126 a barrel last week, there are few signs of a pull-back in underlying consumer demand, analysts said, indicating import growth should quickly rebound.

China, which will soon overtake Japan as the world's second-largest crude buyer after the United States, imported 14.24 million tonnes, or 3.47 million barrels per day, of crude in April, down 3.9 percent versus April of 2007.

That's a sizeable 600,000 bpd fall from March, when imports hit a record 4.07 million bpd, a decline flagged earlier in a Reuters survey showing China's top refiners were curbing runs in April while raising gasoline and diesel imports to near-record rates to build stocks ahead of the August Olympics.

"If you look at the refined fuel demand, you would expect the data is only a blip. We may see the figures go back to positive increase as soon as next month," said Ke Xiaoming, deputy head of market research at China Petrochemical Consulting Corp, a research arm of top refiner Sinopec.

"It's more of readjustment of refinery operations after bumper imports the previous month."

Following quick growth in the first quarter, year-to-date imports are still yup 9.8 percent on a year earlier at 59.77 million tonnes (3.58 million bpd), the General Administration of Customs said in its Web site (www.customs.gov.cn).