Anticipating the end of US sanctions waivers, China increased its purchase of Iranian oil in March.

However, the import is still 25% below that of March 2018, and Saudi Arabia is now China’s top supplier.

China imported about 541,100 barrels per day of crude from Iran in March, up from 509,700 bpd in February.

On Monday, the Trump Administration announced it will end sanctions waivers in early May for Iran’s top eight customers, including China — which takes almost half of Tehran’s official export of about 1.1 million bpd — India, South Korea, Japan, and Turkey.

China’s imports in March from Saudi Arabia surged to 1.72 million bpd, up almost 60% from a year earlier.

The rise accompanies Saudi Arabia’s supply contracts for 2019 with new Chinese refiners Hengli Petrochemical and Zhejiang Rongsheng.

Iranian State media ignored the Chinese shift towards Saudi and played down the long-term fall in purchases from Tehran. Press TV instead headlined, “China’s Iran Oil Imports Hit 7-Month High in March Ahead of New Sanctions”.

Iran’s official exports have fallen from 2.5 million bpd in April 2018 to the current 1.1 million bpd. Analysts says Iran may be moving up to 450,000 bpd “off the grid”, by turning off transponders to hide shipments.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Leader insisted that, despite the Trump Administration’s end of sanctions waivers, “we are able to export as much oil as we need and wish”.

Iran Daily, April 24: Supreme Leader — We Will Export As Much Oil As We Want