By Chen Aizhu
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A handful of newer Chinese terminals recently began receiving oil tankers sanctioned by the U.S., according to five sources and shipping data, providing logistics relief after a major port operator unexpectedly banned such deliveries last month.
The deliveries follow state-owned Shandong Port Group’s surprise announcement in early January that it would prohibit shipments from vessels designated by the U.S. Treasury, curbing imports at eastern Shandong province, the hub for independent refiners that are the main Chinese buyers of sanctioned Russian and Iranian crude.
The recent shipments to the newer terminals are among fewer than 10 cargoes of sanctioned oil delivered into China on U.S.-designated vessels since the Shandong Port ban, a fraction of overall Chinese crude imports, based on information from traders and tanker tracking data from Vortexa Analytics and Kpler.
The trade sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.
The U.S. sanctions and Shandong Port restrictions have driven up costs for Chinese refineries and stalled trade by pushing up freight rates, with costly non-sanctioned vessels joining to fill some of the shipping gap.
On Tuesday, the U.S.-sanctioned Aframax-sized Si He delivered Russian ESPO Blend oil cargo into a terminal at Shandong’s Dongying port, according to Vortexa and Kpler.
The Dongying terminal is smaller than nearby facilities operated by Shandong Port Group such as in Qingdao, Rizhao and Yantai, and is operated by Baogang International, or BIPC, according to Vortexa. BIPC is controlled by privately-held Shandong Wanda Holdings.
BIPC did not respond to emails seeking comment. Reuters could not reach the company by phone.
In mid-January, the Guyana-flagged Nichola, previously named the Spirit of Casper, a U.S.-designated vessel, delivered about one million barrels of Iranian oil trans-shipped from Malaysia into a terminal in the southern city of Huizhou, according to Vortexa and a source who deals in sanctioned oil.
The berth is operated by Huaying Petrochemical, a private storage and terminal firm controlled by Shanghai-listed Wintime Energy Group Co.
A Wintime investor relations official said the Huaying terminal received cargoes of Malaysian or Singaporean origin, but not Iranian, adding that it conducts business under Chinese law. The official said the terminal did not register the arrival of Spirit of Casper but didn’t comment on Nichola.
Iranian oil imported to China is often branded as originating from Malaysia.
China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil.
SANCTIONS OPPOSITION
Beijing has consistently opposed unilateral U.S. sanctions, defends oil trade with Iran as legitimate, and has refrained from condemning Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In response to Reuters’ query on the terminal deliveries, China’s foreign ministry reiterated that stance and asked the U.S. to stop disturbing or damaging normal trade between China and other nations.
The January delivery was not the first time Huaying received Iranian shipments. According to Vortexa, the Huaying terminal offloaded some 7 million barrels of Iranian oil in 2023, all of which were reloaded on ships northwards to refining hub Shandong.
Separately, a tank farm that opened in late 2023 at Huangzeshan island in eastern Zhejiang province received Iranian oil carried by the U.S.-sanctioned Clio in the second half of January, according to Vortexa and Kpler.
Fury, another U.S.-designated vessel carrying Iranian oil, discharged at the same terminal on February 9, according to Vortexa, LSEG and Kpler. Nichola and Fury were designated on October 11.
The facility is controlled by Zhejiang Energy Group, a provincial government-backed utility operator and energy trader.
Calls to Zhejiang Energy went unanswered. The company did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
While the BIPC terminal at Dongying is linked with an independent refinery, the Huaying and Huangzeshan terminals are designed mostly as transfer and blending hubs rather than directly serving refiners.
Washington slapped its toughest-yet sanctions on the supply chain of Russian oil on Jan 10 by designating tankers that transport some 40% of Moscow’s seaborne crude exports. China is Russia’s No.2 customer of tanker-shipped oil after India.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Treasury also imposed new sanctions on individuals and tankers helping to ship Iranian crude oil to China. President Donald Trump last week revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in London, Siyi Liu, Florence Tan and Michele Pek in Singapore; Editing by Tony Munroe and Kate Mayberry)
