Freshly-released August data for South Korean crude and condensate imports show a collapse in volumes from Iran. Korea took just 233,000 tons from Iran in August (54,700 b/d on the presumption this is crude), the lowest figure since December 2015. This would appear to be a cargo that sailed from Iran in late June, and the last imports from Iran for some time, given that Korea halted loadings from July (MEES, 3 August).

Iran had long been the key supplier of condensate to Korea. And, whilst Korea does not provide a by-grade split of its import data, the three countries showing the largest rise for August are all notable condensate exporters. (CONTINUED - 326 WORDS)