Pause in Iran shipments to China

Iran endured the longest gap without sending oil to its biggest customer in at least three years as imminent US sanctions pile pressure on Tehran.

Two supertankers left Iran’s biggest export terminal bound for China Wednesday, ending an 18-day hiatus, according to ship-tracking data. While the pause in shipments probably doesn’t mean China will bow to pressure from US President Donald Trump it might indicate the Asian country’s refineries want better terms for Iranian cargoes. Regardless of the motivation, flows to China have plunged at a difficult moment for Iran, with buyers including South Korea, France and others either reducing or completely stopping their purchases due to US pressure.