Russia’s seaborne diesel and gasoil exports fell in April as refineries carried out seasonal maintenance and the industry held back some supplies for expected domestic demand growth over the summer months, according to LSEG data and market sources.

In total, diesel and gasoil exports from Russian ports fell to about 3.3 million metric tons, down 10% from March, Reuters calculations based on LSEG and market sources data showed.

Turkey and Brazil remained the main importers of Russian diesel and gasoil in April, shipping data shows.

Diesel and gasoil exports from Russian ports to Turkey rose last month to 1.12 million tons, up 6% from March, while loadings for Brazil fell by a third on a monthly basis to 0.66 million tons from 1.0 million tons.

Russia’s April diesel and gasoil exports to African countries fell by 20% from the previous month to about 0.75 million tons in total, with Libya, Senegal, Tunisia and Ghana among the biggest importers, shipping data showed.

Traders referred to an increase in ship-to-ship transfers to bypass tougher Western sanctions imposed on fuel loaded in Russian ports, saying cargoes were mounting up near the Cypriot port of Limassol.

The data showed more than 0.42 million tons of diesel in April were waiting there for discharge or orders for further destinations.

In addition, vessels loaded with about 150,000 tons of diesel in Russian ports have their destination marked as “for orders”, meaning their discharge points are either not yet known or not declared.
Source: Reuters