Russia's seaborne diesel and gasoil exports surged by nearly 40 per cent in December from November to about 3.41 million tonnes. This was driven by higher fuel production and a seasonal drop in domestic demand, data from market sources and LSEG showed.
Exports of ultra-low-sulphur diesel via Primorsk, Russia’s biggest outlet for diesel shipments, climbed 35 per cent month-on-month to 1.7 million tonnes. This occurred as major suppliers boosted output and supplies, the sources said.
Diesel and gasoil loadings from southern ports Tuapse and Novorossiysk jumped almost 60 per cent last month from November. This followed local refineries ramping up shipments.
Rosneft-controlled Tuapse refinery, which exports most of its output, resumed processing on November 21. This followed a two-week halt after Ukrainian drone attacks, lifting fuel export loadings in December.
Turkey remained the biggest buyer of Russian diesel and gasoil last month, with imports roughly steady at 1.1 million tonnes. Shipments to Brazil surged to 600,000 tonnes from 230,000 tonnes in November, LSEG data showed.
Diesel loadings to Morocco rose sharply to 321,000 tonnes from 70,000 tonnes in November. Supplies to ship-to-ship transfers near Limassol, Malta, and Port Said, Egypt, totalled nearly 0.5 million tonnes last month.
The final destinations of these cargoes remain unclear. Several tankers carrying a total of about 310,000 tonnes of diesel from Russian ports have yet to declare their discharge ports, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; Editing by Mark Potter)