Naphtha exports drop

摘要

Exports of Russian naphtha by rail declined by 2.1pc last year, with shipments through ports in the Baltic region registering the most significant fall. But overall exports were steady compared with 2016, at 24.6mn t. Supply to the Baltic states dropped by more than 53pc to 1.01mn t as a result of unofficial restrictions on rail shipments from Russia imposed in March 2017. Russian refineries halted naphtha deliveries to the Latvian port of Ventspils in June, having shipped 1.5mn t a year earlier. Product from Tatneft's 140,000 b/d Taneko refinery in Nizhnekamsk was diverted from Ventspils to Russia's Baltic Sea port of Vysotsk, which received 728,500t last year, up from 374,500t in 2016. But Taneko naphtha exports are expected to fall this year, when Tatneft commissions a gasoline production complex at the plant.