China's crude oil imports from Iran in May returned to year-ago levels following a significant drop in the first four months of the year, rising nearly 39% month on month to 2.22 million mt (524,100 b/d), according to official customs data received by Platts Friday.
The May volumes were just 2.3% down from the same period last year.
China's crude imports from Iran had fallen by 31% on year from January to April to 5.9 million mt following disagreements over price in term contract renewals in the first quarter.
Pricing terms between the National Iranian Oil Corp. and Sinopec's trading arm Unipec had reportedly been ironed out in February, which would have reinstated March-loading cargoes, with the volumes showing up in the May data.
China's total crude oil imports in May rose 18.2% year on year to a record 25.48 million mt (6.02 million bpd). The volumes were also up 14.5% from April's 22.26 million mt (rerey.
Saudi Arabia remained the top supplier to China last month, with volumes rising 12.4% year on year to 4.39 million mt, but still below the record 5.5 million mt seen in February.
Edited by: S. Isayev