Product exports along Russia’s inland waterways hit 268,295t in November, compared with 920,374t in October and 231,331t in November last year. The rise reflects higher supplies from some terminals just before the end of navigation on the southbound Volga-Don route. But preliminary data indicate that overall river exports fell this year from 2015, the worst year in the river navigation history over the past few years (see table). Exports, mainly fuel oil and marine gasoil, from the Samara, Kashpir and Syzran terminals totalled 60,800t in November, more than 30pc below November 2015 levels and just a fraction of the 400,000t shipped in October. River shipments usually fall in November because shipowners and customers need time to redeploy vessels to the sea, or put them at winter anchorage in river ports. The situation was aggravated by severe storms in the Kerch strait this year, which complicated river-sea vessel discharge into floating storage tankers, used to make up large export cargoes.
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