Brazil’s Imports of Russian Diesel to Remain Strong in Early 2024

Russian diesel flows to Brazil are expected to remain steadily strong in early 2024, as Brazilian buyers rely on cheap imports due to the latest domestic diesel price adjustment from Petrobras, according to market sources, cited by Platts.

• Brazil imported 7.7mn barrels of diesel from Russia in November. Imports from Russia during 1-8 December stood at 1.9mn barrels, S&P Commodities at Sea data showed.
• Brazilian importers found themselves forces to rely on cheaper Russian imports to remain competitive before Petrobras' domestic price adjustment that came into effect on 8 December, which brought down diesel wholesale prices by 3.8% to $1.2057/l, Platts reported. So far in 2023, Petrobras has slashed wholesale diesel prices by 15.8%.
• "The arbitrage in Brazil was open more than 50 cents/gal," a market source said. "Petrobras made a catch up."
• Market sources said that the price adjustment has made Petrobras product less expensive and closer to the price of US Gulf Coast-origin diesel.