TOKYO: Imports of Iranian crude oil by major buyers in Asia fell to a seven-month low in June, as South Korea lowered imports significantly ahead of possible new sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation, government and ship-tracking data showed.
China, India, Japan and South Korea last month imported 1.45 million barrels per day (bpd) from Iran, according to the data. That was down 0.5 percent from a year ago and the lowest since November last year.
Purchases of crude from Iran by the four countries may fall significantly by the end of the year after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a landmark agreement on curbing Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
The United States is reimposing sanctions on Iran and demanding other countries cut their trade ties with the Middle Eastern country.
Iran and other signatories have been working to find a way to salvage the nuclear agreement, even as the United States has begun reimposing some sanctions on Iran.
The first set of sanctions will take effect on Aug. 6, and the rest, notably in the petroleum sector, after a 180-day "wind-down period" ending on Nov. 4.
Top buyer China's imports of Iranian crude in June rose about 2 percent from a year ago to 525,000 bpd, according to Reuters oil flow data on Eikon. China has halted release of country breakdown for its crude imports since earlier this year.
India's imports from Iran jumped nearly 20 percent from last year to around 593,000 bpd. Indian refiners, though, ordered about 12 percent less Iranian oil in June than in May, when the US said it would reintroduce sanctions on Iran.
South Korean purchases slumped 41 percent from June last year to 183,000 bpd. South Korea will not lift any Iranian crude or condensate in July, halting all shipments for the first time in six years amid US pressure to cut all imports, three sources familiar with the matter have said.
Iran crude imports into Japan rose 10 percent in June to around 148,000 bpd from a year earlier, Japanese trade ministry data showed on Tuesday.
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