Turkey and Brazil became biggest importers of Russian seaborne diesel, gasoil in 2023

Following the imposition of European Union sanctions prohibiting the import of Russian refined products, Turkey and Brazil emerged as the largest importers of Russian seaborne diesel and gasoil last year, according to data from market sources and LSEG.

Earlier, Europe had been Russia’s primary buyer until the full EU embargo took effect in February 2023. In response, traders redirected diesel cargoes from Russian ports to countries such as Brazil and Turkey as well as nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, utilising ship-to-ship (STS) loadings.

According to the LSEG data, Russia last year exported about 13.5 million metric tons of diesel and gasoil to Turkey, up from 5 million tons in 2022. It was unclear how much of this stayed in Turkey as opposed to being shipped onwards to other destinations. Shipments of diesel from Russian ports to Brazil totalled about 6.5 million tons in 2023 compared with 74,000 tons in 2022.

Turkey remained the biggest buyer of Russian diesel and gasoil in the first month of this year, receiving more than 1.5 million tons, LSEG data shows. Brazil’s imports from Russia fell in January, however, to around 460,000 tonnes, down from 1 million tons in December 2023.

Traders said the drop was a result of a seasonal fall in demand and supplies. Last year, Russia also exported about 1.9 million tons of diesel to Saudi Arabia and nearly 1.6 million tonnes to United Arab Emirates, shipping data showed.

Diesel exports from Russian ports to African countries also increased last year, reaching 10.2 million tons compared with 2.4 million tons in 2022. Morocco, Libya, Togo, Tunisia and Ghana were among the top importers. In January this year, diesel supplies from Russian ports to African countries totalled about 0.8 million tons, LSEG data showed.

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With inputs from Reuters.