The US Department of Treasury has sanctioned Indian-based petchems company Tibalaji Petrochem for purchasing “millions of dollars’ worth of Triliance-brokered petrochemical products, including methanol and base oil, for onward shipment to China” according to a 29 September statement. Triliance is a Hong Kong-based Iranian petchems broker with branches in Iran, UAE, China and Germany. New Delhi has been pressed by Washington for its increased imports of Russian crude (MEES, 23 September). The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also targeted Hong Kong-based Sierra Vista Trading, M&L Holdings Group and Sophychem HK in addition to Dubai-based shippers Clara Shipping and Virgo Marine. OFAC says the sanctioned firms “have facilitated financial transfers and shipping of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.” While India, alongside Pakistan and Indonesia, has taken Iranian petchems shipments in the past, China is the key buyer (MEES, 27 March 2020).