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China’s March Iranian oil imports surge amid US tightened sanctions
China’s oil imports from Iran surpassed 1.8 million barrels per day last month, an all-time high, coinciding with a rise in inventory levels in independent refining hub Shandong Province, according to data by ship tracking firm Vortexa, Reuters reported.
Data from analytics firm Kpler put China’s Iranian oil imports at 1.71 million bpd in March, up 20% from 1.43 million bpd in February and a five-month high, while two traders who track Iranian flows into China estimated March imports at 1.67 million bpd and 1.8 million bpd, respectively.
China, which opposes unilateral sanctions, buys some 90% of Iran’s oil exports, a trade that has been boosted as more vessels drawn by high fees replaced those under US sanctions, traders and analysts have said.
Iranian oil accounted for 16% of China’s March seaborne crude oil imports, Kpler data showed.
Vortexa senior analyst Emma Li and a China-based refining source attributed the rush to buy Iranian barrels to worries among traders and refiners of further supply disruptions.
The US administration has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iranian oil trade since President Donald Trump’s February call for its so-called “maximum pressure” on Tehran, including March sanctions on Shandong teapot refiner Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical.
On Thursday, it slapped sanctions on Iranian oil trading networks, including on a China-based crude oil storage terminal linked via a pipeline to an independent refinery.
The Treasury Department also designated UAE-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar, who owns shipping companies with a fleet of nearly 30 vessels, over what it claimed was “transfers of Iranian petroleum.”
The sanctions block US assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them.
A trader, an executive at an independent “teapot” refiner, said Iranian oil seems to have “flooded in” last month, with some shipments delivered by dealers into tanks looking for buyers.
Li expects China’s Iranian oil imports to drop in April as overall demand has not picked up, which will stabilize the year-to-date average in the 1.3-1.4 million bpd range, in line with last year.