LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) – More than 20 ships carrying around one million tonnes of grain are stuck outside Iranian ports as U.S. sanctions create payment problems and hamper the country’s efforts to import vital commodities, sources directly involved in the trade said. Trading companies such as Bunge and China’s COFCO International have been hit by payment delays and additional costs of up to $15,000 a day as the renewed U.S. restrictions stifle the processing of transactions, trade sources said. Food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies are exempt from sanctions Washington re-imposed after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was walking away from a 2015 international deal over Iran’s nuclear programme.
