Some of China’s largest ports have received Iranian crude this year, supporting a multibillion oil trade and highlighting a significant gap in U.S. efforts to curb funds for Tehran’s military and to uphold existing sanctions.
From January to June, terminals in the port clusters around Qingdao, Dalian and Zhoushan — major import points that take industrial metals, agricultural and consumer goods, as well as oil — have helped China purchase almost 1.4 million barrels a day of Iranian crude, according to data analytics firm Kpler.
In June alone, ports located around Qingdao received as much as 15.5 million barrels of Iranian crude, Kpler data show, equivalent to close to $1 billion at current prices for the discounted oil, with sanctioned tankers used in different legs of the journey from the Persian Gulf to China.
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