South Korea's Crude Imports From West Asia Down 37 Per Cent In April

SEOUL, May 24 (NNN-Yonhap) -- South Korea's imports of crude oil from West Asia slipped 37 per cent in April from a year earlier amid prolonged geopolitical tensions in the region, Yonhap News Agency reported. 

According to data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), South Korea's total crude imports came to 8.46 million tons in April, down 22.8 per cent from a year earlier.

Imports from West Asia fell 37.3 per cent on-year to 4.49 million tons in April, accounting for 53.1 per cent of the total. The figure marks a 12.1 percentage-point drop from 65.2 per cent tallied a year earlier.

Imports from Saudi Arabia, the biggest supplier, fell 37.6 per cent on-year in April to 2.14 million tons, the KITA data showed.

Combined crude imports from the United States, meanwhile, rose 13.4 per cent to 2.14 million tonnes.

The gap in import volumes between the United States and Saudi Arabia narrowed to just around 1,000 tons from 1.45 million tons in March.

In line with the government's efforts to diversify import sources, South Korea's crude imports from Australia came to 440,000 tonnes in April, up 89 per cent from a year earlier.

Imports from Canada also more than tripled to 240,000 tonnes in April, the data showed.

South Korea's crude imports from African countries, including Nigeria, surged to 400,000 tonnes in April from just 60,000 tons a year earlier.

--NNN-YONHAP