Japan's Iran crude imports fall to 9-mth low in April

* Japan imports from Iran fall 96 pct in April to 7,549 bpd * Lowest level since Japan imported no Iranian crude in July 2012 * Decline due to uncertainty over renewal of shipping insurance (Adds that insurance renewal is reason for decline) By Risa Maeda and Osamu Tsukimori TOKYO, May 31 (Reuters) - Japan's crude imports from Iran fell in April to the lowest in nine months, as refiners cut purchases because of uncertainty over whether sovereign insurance for tankers carrying Iranian oil would be extended beyond March. The United States and other Western countries slapped tough sanctions on Iran last year to choke off its oil revenue to force Tehran to halt a controversial nuclear programme. As part of those measures, the EU banned insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian oil. To cope with the ban, Japan in June last year offered sovereign insurance guarantees. The arrangement has to be renewed every fiscal year, which in Japan ends on March 31. A provisional budget was approved on March 29, but uncertainty surrounding the renewal made buyers cut loadings, said a source directly involved in shipping Iranian oil. "There was a period of uncertainty," said the source, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to talk to media. "Some companies decided not to load Iranian crude from late March." A transport ministry official in charge of the scheme said new contracts covering three tankers were signed on April 1, compared with 13 ships that were covered up to March 31. The number of tankers covered by the government insurance is now at 8, the ministry official said. That means May imports are also likely to show a decline from a year earlier, because fewer ships were eligible to load Iranian oil during the month. Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, imported just 36,005 kilolitres (7,549 bpd) from Iran in April, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed on Friday. That's down 96 percent from the same month a year ago and the lowest level since Japan imported no Iranian crude in July 2012. Japan imported no crude from Iran in July last year because refiners were waiting for Tokyo to come up with the insurance arrangements for tankers carrying Iranian oil. In March, supplies from Iran rose by 4.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.39 million kl, the first year-on-year rise in monthly imports since June 2012, according to METI data. Major buyers of Iranian crude, JX Nippon Oil & Energy and Showa Shell Sekiyu, have renewed their annual 2013 term contracts with Iran at lower volumes, industry sources familiar with the matter have said. Yasushi Kimura, Chairman of JX Nippon, the country's top refiner, has said Japan's oil imports from Iran may be about 15 percent lower this year, capped roughly at 160,000 bpd. In March, the United States extended 180-day waivers on Iranian sanctions for Japan and 10 European Union nations in exchange for their cutting purchases of the OPEC nation's crude oil. The United States is due in June to review the 180-day exceptions granted to other Asian importers. The waivers allow Iranian imports without the risk of being cut off from the U.S. financial system. In April, China, Iran's top customer, imported 4.3 percent less crude from the Middle Eastern country from a year earlier. India, the second biggest customer, imported 56.5 percent less from a year earlier, while South Korea's imports fell nearly 45 percent last month. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes but the United States and its European allies say it is aimed at developing an atomic weapon. Iran's crude exports have fallen by 20 percent, but higher refined oil product exports have compensated for the decline, Oil Minster Rostam Qasemi said on Friday. Japan's Ministry of Finance earlier this week issued customs-cleared data that showed imports of Iranian oil fell 6.1 percent in April from a year earlier. The oil industry considers METI data as the more reliable benchmark because it tracks tanker arrivals. (Reporting by Risa Maeda; Writing by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Tom Hogue and Manash Goswami)