Sibur, Russia’s largest producer and exporter of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has delivered a first cargo of LPG to China from the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, the main gateway for exports to Turkey, according to traders and LSEG ship-tracking data.
Sibur mostly supplies LPG to Turkey, but demand for LPG in the country has been declining by five per cent to six per cent annually, traders said, and Algeria and the US dominate its market.
"It's been increasingly difficult to place additional LPG volumes from Ust-Luga," a trader said about exports to Turkey.
According to LSEG, large gas carrier Pacific Moon arrived at the Chinese port of Quanzhou in the southern Fujian region at the end of November. Industry sources said it delivered around 33,000 tonnes of propane, loaded at Ust-Luga in the middle of October.
Sibur did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, Sibur also started supplies of LPG to Ghana in West Africa and India, employing medium gas carriers, capable of shipping up to 20,000 tonnes of cargo, as the European Union introduced sanctions against Russia’s LPG at the end of 2024.
According to the industry sources and LSEG data, Sibur increased LPG supplies from Ust-Luga in January-November by 70 per cent to 860,000 tonnes, year on year, after reducing it by 37 per cent to 570,000 tonnes in 2024 from 2023.
(Reporting by Reuters. Editing by Mark Potter)
