Around 2.5 mil mt cargo to be discharged in May Refiners may continue imports by re-allocating tax cost Heavy crude to be in favor China’s bitumen blend imports — which reached a four-month high of 2.41 million mt in April — are likely to hover over 2 million mt in May before falling sharply from June onwards due to the imposition of consumption tax on heavy grade starting June 12, market sources told S&P Global Platts. Bitumen blend inflows jumped 34.5% on the month in April, rising more than four times from the year-ago level, with market sources attributing the gains to increasing Iranian crude supplies. Bitumen blend is typically crude cargoes blended off Malaysia waters with heavy grades, mostly Venezuelan Merey in recent years, which are used as feedstock to produce asphalt for paving roads. […]