Iranian tanker squeeze causing slowdown in exports to China
Reports have quoted trade sources as saying Iranian crude volumes received by China have been below contracted levels since September, because the sanctions-hit oil exporter's tanker fleet, the sole transporter of its crude to China, has been struggling to meet delivery schedules, Seatrade Asia online reports.
Iran has reportedly delayed loading of some shipments for September, October and November to China as the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) is apparently struggling to meet delivery schedules after a European Union insurance ban caused buyers to cut back on orders, forcing NITC to deploy more than half of its tanker fleet to store oil.
Chinese buyers were quoted as saying nominated volumes were different to what was actually loaded and almost every cargo has been delayed, with some delays going up to 10 to 15 days.
China is expected to have nominated 15.5m barrels of Iranian crude for September, or about 520,000 bpd, which would have required eight VLCCs to transport each month.
The loading delays for China-bound shipments were also caused partly by the resumption of imports by South Korea, which has chosen to use Iranian tankers for its shipments because it faced difficulties in securing insurance elsewhere for vessels. Iran has designated three tankers to deliver crude to South Korea via round trip from Tehran to Seoul, sources said.
