Taiwan, once a small customer of Iran's crude, is planning to increase its imports from the Middle East nation, Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Javier Ching-shan Hou said in Tehran on Tuesday.
The official, who is on a mission to explore trade opportunities with Iran at the head of an economic delegation, made the remark in a meeting with Mehdi Jahangiri, the deputy head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, TCCIMA's official website reported.
He said Taiwan's annual crude imports from Iran amounted to 11 million barrels in the past, but the volume can rise to 14 million barrels now that Tehran is free of western sanctions that had significantly curtailed its trade with the outside world.
Data show Taiwan used to import 60,000 barrels per day of crude from Iran, but the volume fell to only 3,600 bpd in 2014 after the US and the European Union tightened financial and trade embargoes against the Persian Gulf country.
CPC Corp and Formosa Petrochemical, Taiwan's biggest refiners, imported just 2 million barrels each in 2015, according to customs data. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman are the top three crude suppliers to Taiwan.
