China's Sinopec unit to haul 24m barrels of Saudi crude from Red Sea in March

Sinopec, like other Asian refiners, faces major supply disruptions as the US-Israeli war on Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz that nearly half of China's crude imports sail through. The refiner has also begun cutting output, Reuters reported.

Unipec's loadings are part of the growing exports from Yanbu that averaged 2.6 million bpd in March, doubling the amount in February and January as Saudi Arabia sped up pipeline flows to redirect exports to Yanbu.

However, nearly all Saudi exports from Yanbu are the Arab Light crude grade, leaving Sinopec still scrambling to secure heavier grades that many of its plants in China are configured to process, traders said.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu Editing by Alexandra Hudson)