TEHRAN – After a five-month hiatus, South Korea imported $101.2 million worth of Iranian crude oil in January, Yonhap reported on Tuesday citing Korea Customs Service data.

South Korean companies stopped importing Iranian crude oil in September 2018, but the country was allowed to continue to buy Iranian oil over the next six months.

However, despite the waiver, South Korean companies resumed importing oil from Iran in January in which they shipped in less than one-fifth of $539 million, the average monthly Iranian crude oil imports for the first seven months of 2018.

South Korean refiners and chemical firms had relied heavily on Iranian condensate for production of various petrochemical products thanks to a stable supply and price competitiveness.

South Korea is the third-largest buyer of Iranian oil.

EF/MA