Seoul — South Korea's crude oil imports from Iran plunged 86.5% in August from a year 

earlier due to pending re-imposition of US sanctions on Tehran, according to preliminary 

data released by the Korea Customs Service Monday. 

The  country  imported  232,723 mt (1.71 million barrels or 55,161 b/d) of Iranian crude, 

including condensate, in August, down 86.5% from 12.63 million barrels in the same mo

nth last year. 

This marks the 10th consecutive decline since November last year when imports fell 26.8% 

year on year to 10.37 million barrels. 

The volume of 1.71 million barrels was the smallest monthly imports since September 2012 

when  South  Korea  purchased no cargoes from Iran amid US-led sanctions on Iran. The 

August imports were also down 72.4% from 6.20 million barrels in July. 

The data is based on customs clearance and there can be a time discrepancy between 

clearance and actual arrival of the goods, according to customs officials. 

Most domestic importers told S&P Global Platts that they had no Iranian crude since August, 

with Platts trade flow software cFlow showing no oil cargoes from Iran to South Korea for 

delivery in August. 

Final oil trade data for August will be released later this month by state-run Korea National

 Oil Corp. 

For the first eight months this year, Iranian crude oil imports fell 42.3% year on year to 57.91 

million barrels, from 100.44 million barrels in same period last year, according to the customs 

data. 

In 2017, Iranian crude oil imports increased 32.1% to 147.87 million barrels. The country's 

monthly imports of Iranian crude had increased since January 2016 when the US and EU

 lifted sanctions on Iran.