in early June, offshore shipments of Russian Urals oil to China fell by almost 50% – Kommersant

Marine shipments of Russian Urals oil to China from June 1 to June 19 fell by almost 50% compared to May, Reuters writes. According to the ship tracking system on the Refinitiv Eikon portal, only 0.26 million tons of oil were delivered from Russian ports to China during the specified period, while in May the volume of deliveries was at the level of 0.67 million tons.

For the period from June 1 to June 19, the volume of shipment of Urals oil to China from offshore transshipments amounted to 0.3 million tons. Relative to the results of the same period, when 0.42 million tons were shipped, the figures decreased by almost 30%.

Reuters interlocutors believe that the drop in Urals deliveries to China is due to the fact that independent oil refiners ran out of import quotas, and alternative oil, such as Iranian, was sold at a better price. However, according to traders, in July the volume of deliveries of Urals to China may increase again.

In 2022, due to Western sanctions, Russia redirected energy exports to Asian countries. The main buyers of Russian coal, oil and gas are China and India. According to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, in the period from January to May of this year, Russian oil supplies to China increased by 23.7% year on year. In total, during this period, China imported about 42.1 million tons of oil.