Russian September Seaborne Diesel Exports Dropped 30% MoM

Russian seaborne diesel and gasoil exports on 1-20 September stood at around 1.7mn tons, down by almost 30% compared with the same period in August, amid seasonal refinery maintenance and domestic fuel shortages, traders said and LSEG data showed.

• So far in September, Turkey remains the top buyer at around 600,000 tons, almost down by 50% on the month, LSEG data show.
• Diesel loadings from Russia to Brazil have decreased by a third month-on-month to around 260,000 tons since the start of this month, according to the shipping data.
• Around 150,000 tons of diesel from Russian ports are destined in September for ship-to-ship (STS) loadings near the Greek port of Kalamata and final destinations for those volumes are not known yet.
• Russian diesel supplies to African countries totalled around 460,000 tons on 1-20 September.
• Idle primary oil refining capacity for September is estimated at 4.657 million tons, up by 45% from August according to Reuters calculations.
• Due to the domestic fuel shortage, Russia's government is considering an export duty for oil products of $250/ton from 1 October until June 2024, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. This would be significantly up from current levels.
• "The export duty could negatively affect the refineries economy and may lead to a fuel production decrease", one trader said.