July 13 (Reuters) - China’s January-June imports of crude oil fell 3%, General Administration of Customs data showed on Tuesday. But imports of soybeans, natural gas and iron ore rose in the first half from a year earlier, as the world’s second-biggest economy continued to recover from COVID-19 disruptions. KEY POINTS: * China Jan-June crude oil imports down 3% at 261 mln tonnes * China Jan-June soybean imports up 8.7% at 48.96 mln tonnes * China Jan-June natural gas imports up 23.8% at 59.82 mln T * China Jan-June iron ore imports up 2.6% at 561 mln tonnes * China Jan-June wheat imports up 60.1% at 5.37 mln tonnes * China Jan-June corn imports up 318.5% at 15.3 mln tonnes Preliminary table of commodity trade data TRADE/CN Below are comments from analysts on the commodities data. Comment on crude oil SENG YICK TEE, SENIOR DIRECTOR, SIA ENERGY “The crackdowns on teapot crude quota trading and the non-compliant crude supply by NOCs (national oil companies) to teapots really hit the crude imports in June.” LINKS: For details, see the official customs website (www.customs.gov.cn) BACKGROUND: China is the world’s biggest crude oil importer and top buyer of copper, coal, iron ore and soybeans. (Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.