Russian diesel finds alternative markets in South America and the Middle East
The European Union’s embargo on Russian oil products that took effect on February 5 has diverted shipments of Russian diesel from European markets not only to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, but also increasingly to Latin America.
Refinitiv Eikon data, reported by the American “Oil Price” publication, indicates that Russia exported more than 580,000 tons of diesel to South America and Latin America last March, of which 440,000 tons went to the Brazilian market.
AndRussia’s diesel exports to South America reached 663,000 tons between January and March, an increase of about 74,000 tons for the whole of last year.
Bloomberg said that Russian diesel flows reached their highest levels in Turkey in 7 years. A number of oil-producing countries import cheap Russian diesel for domestic use, while at the same time sending large quantities of domestic diesel to Europe.
According to the “Oil Price” bulletin, traders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia benefited from the advantage of the low price of Russian diesel to increase stocks of it, while the Kingdom boosted fuel exports to Europe and Africa.
Archyde.com reported, citing data from Refinitiv, Kepler and Vortexa, US oil data companies, that in mid-March, about 500,000 tons of Russian diesel were unloaded in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.