Diesel purchases from the port of Constanta are growing slowly, despite the unblocking of imports

In the first decade of November, Ukraine unblocked diesel fuel imports from Constanta, but its sales are growing slowly.

In November, supplies were carried out by Vitaro Energy, Socar Petroleum and Oscar Downstream, while Euronova Energies and Alkagesta focused on sales in other directions, enkorr reports.

Market participants believe that in December, fuel imports from Constanta will grow slowly, as the pool of suppliers will remain.

“For now, we will focus on other markets, because all these bans from Ukraine have made our life more difficult and impossible to plan supplies and sales, especially in conditions of sharp backwardation,” said one of the operators from Constanta.

Last week, gas oil quotes fell by more than $100/ton, which makes trading in November residues unprofitable after fixing contract prices.

“We only have India so far, so we are actively selling on the Romanian market,” said another trader.

Euronova Energies and Alkagesta have plenty of work to do elsewhere. Sanctions against Lukoil and NIS have boosted demand for imported fuel in Romania and Serbia. Last week, the Serbian government approved the import of 38,000 tonnes of gasoline and 66,000 tonnes of diesel for state reserves. Before the ban on imports from Constanta, Euronova Energies and Alkagesta accounted for 52,000 tonnes, or a third of September’s supplies.

Demand for fuel from Constanta has also increased from Moldova. According to traders, some Moldovan companies returned to purchasing fuel from there last month. This activity is due to the suspension of purchases from Lukoil’s Petrotel plant, which is currently under repair and under US sanctions.

Demand from Moldova may increase even more, as there are rumors that Ukraine has lifted the ban on diesel imports from the port of Giurgiuleşti. This means that Moldovan companies can now re-export some volumes if demand arises from Ukrainian buyers.

Earlier, USM reported that Ukraine has unblocked diesel imports from Constanta.