China's Major Ports Close Entry to Russia's 'Shadow Fleet' Tankers

This closes the entire east coast of China to Russian oil.

The Chinese company Shandong Port Group has banned sanctioned Russian tankers from entering the port of Shandong. In the eastern part of China, there is not only the port itself but also many oil refineries. They are the largest importers of oil from all over the world.

At the end of 2024, the province imported up to 1.74 million barrels of oil daily from Russia, Iran and Venezuela, which is 17% of China's total oil imports, Reuters reports.

If such a ban is officially confirmed, it will lead to an increase in oil delivery costs for independent oil refineries.

Back in December 2024, the United States imposed sanctions against companies and the shadow fleet dealing with oil from Iran. Trump may only tighten sanctions against Iran. Such a ban could slow down oil imports to China.

The source writes that on Monday, January 6, the Shandong port administration notified not to allow tankers on the US "black list".

The Shandong port also controls the main ports on the entire east coast of China, including Yantai, Rizhao and Qingdao.

Yesterday, the port administration announced that the ban on shipping would have a limited impact on independent refineries. Allegedly, most of the sanctioned oil is not transported on sanctioned tankers. The ban was introduced immediately after a tanker under Western sanctions entered the port of Yantai in early January.

Vortexa claims that in December 2024, 8 tankers unloaded Iranian oil at the port of Shandong. At least four ships were definitely under US sanctions.

Lloyd's List Intelligence analyst Michel Bockmann said that the shadow fleet transporting oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela currently numbers 669 ships, with about 40% of the tankers transporting oil from Russia.

From October to December 2024, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on another 35 tankers that were transporting sanctioned oil. On Monday, the US Department of Defense said it had added China's largest shipping company, COSCO, to the sanctions list because it actively works with the Chinese military.

US sanctions have increased logistics costs. In December, Iran began selling oil to China at the highest price in 2024. The investment bank is confident that Iranian oil supplies will fall to 3.25 million barrels per day. The Biden administration will soon get its hands on Russian oil.

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