Hengli Petrochemical dives after US imposes Iran oil sanctions

Shares of Hengli Petrochemical 600346.SS fell 10% on Monday after the U.S. last week imposed sanctions on the firm, one of China's largest independent refiners, for allegedly buying Iranian oil.

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday that the refiner is one of Iran's largest customers for crude oil and petroleum products. The company denied it had any dealings with Iran in a statement on Sunday and said it would push to have them lifted.

Asked about the decision at a regular press conference on Monday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for the U.S. to stop misusing sanctions and said it would protect the rights of Chinese companies.

The Trump administration has already imposed sanctions on several other independent refiners, including Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical, and Shandong Shengxing Chemical.

These sanctions, blocking U.S. assets of those designated and preventing Americans from doing business with them, have deterred some larger independent refiners from buying Iranian oil.

However, China still bought more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil last year, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. Sanctions experts have long said that the independent refineries are somewhat immune to the full effect of U.S. sanctions as they have limited exposure to the U.S. financial system.

-Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Rashmi Aich and Thomas Derpinghaus/Reuters