Singapore (Platts)--22Nov2012/1051 pm EST/351 GMT

China's imports of crude oil from Iran in October fell 23.2% year on year to 1.94 million mt (458,716 b/d), but were up 23.3% on month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs received by Platts late Thursday.

Iran remained China's fifth largest supplier of crude in October, similar to September. That is down from being the third largest supplier in August.

In the first 10 months of the year, total Iranian crude imports were 17.73 million mt, down 22.2% from the same period a year ago.

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On June 28, China received a US exemption from sanctions levied against countries who trade with Iran for 180 days, with Washington saying China had significantly reduced its crude purchases from Iran.

A renewal of the waiver is due December 25 and the US State Department said previously it would be dependent on further significant reductions of crude imports from Iran.

China's total crude oil imports in October rose 13.8% year on year to 23.68 million mt (5.6 million b/d), the third highest level this year on a b/d basis, following the record 6.02 million b/d seen in May and 5.98 million b/d in February.

Saudi Arabia, Angola and Oman remained China's top three suppliers of crude oil in October, while Russia was fourth, with volumes rising 24% year on year to 2.23 million mt.

Iraqi volumes fell 5.8% year on year to 1.35 million mt but were up 65.8% month on month.

The rest of China's top suppliers increased their volumes significantly compared with the same period last year. The UAE's crude exports to China more than doubled to 865,606 mt while Venezuelan cargoes rose 10.6% year on year to 925,142 mt.

Imports from Sudan in October totaled 83,409 mt, slightly higher than the 82,501 mt in September, but 93.4% lower than October 2011.

Total imports from the Middle East rose 9.8% year on year to 13.06 million mt, while African cargoes were up 9.5% to 4.74 million mt. Latin American imports rose 79% year on year to 1.96 million mt.

--Song Yen Ling, yen_ling_song@platts.com --Edited by Elston Soares, elston_soares@platts.com

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