Russian diesel shipments soar ahead of EU ban – Bloomberg

Russian diesel exports are expected to surge sharply ahead of the EU's forthcoming embargo on Russian crude, which is scheduled for February, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Shipments from the Baltic and Black Sea ports are predicted to jump 8% in January compared to December, and amount to 2.68 million tons, Bloomberg wrote, citing industry data. Overall flows are estimated at about 86,500 tons, which is higher than volumes recorded in any other month over the last three years.

Exports also included 120,000 tons of diesel from Belarus, the outlet said, citing data for the Baltic port of Primorsk. Shipments from Russia will mainly contain fuel delivered to the ports by pipeline plus smaller volumes brought by rail.

Without specifying the destination of the cargoes, Bloomberg said that planned supplies will reach the highest export rate since January 2020.

On February 5, 2023, the EU will ban seaborne imports of Russian oil and petroleum products such as diesel as part of the sanctions on Moscow. Many economists, however, have warned that the move will backfire, as the bloc is highly dependent and structurally short of this type of fuel, and Russia is one of its biggest external suppliers.

Diesel accounts for the powering of large parts of the EU economy, with more than a third of it arriving from Russia. Earlier, Wood Mackenzie predicted that stockpiles of diesel in northwestern Europe will plummet to 210.4 million barrels in February to reach its lowest since 2011.

Diesel prices have been surging in recent months across the bloc, driving up inflation and heightening the risk of a global recession.

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