S Korea might ban Iran petchem imports
But the world's fifth-largest crude oil importer isn't planning a ban on crude oil imports, the sources at Korea's economy ministry said.
The news comes after the United States, Britain and Canada announced on Monday new sanctions against Iran in response to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency suggesting Iran had worked on designing an atomic bomb.
The European Union agreed in principle on Tuesday to sanction some 200 Iranian people, companies and organisations and France mooted the idea of a Europe-wide ban on Iranian crude imports.
"We are cautiously considering an import ban on Iranian petrochemical products, and currently evaluating a possible impact of the ban," one of the sources said.
Petrochemicals that could be affected include butadiene, paraxylene and other intermediates produced by processing naphtha, another source said.
The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
South Korea imported $350 million in Iranian petrochemicals last year, while exporting $450 million of its petrochemicals to Iran.
That would represent a small part of South Korea's global trade in petrochemicals, which last year totalled $49 billion.
US Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman visited South Korea on Monday and Tuesday, the foreign affairs ministry said. She discussed Iran nuclear issues during the trip.
The United States has requested a ban on imports of Iranian petrochemicals, but not on exports, the second source at the economy ministry said; Kazinform cites China Daily.
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