OREANDA-NEWS  At the end of June 2024, the freight rates (reservations) of oil tankers in Russian ports increased significantly against the background of an increase in exports of domestic raw materials. This is reported by RBC with reference to statistical data from analysts at the Center for Price Indices (CCI).

So, at the end of the second half of the first summer month, freight rates for an Aframax class tanker with a payload of 100,000 tons in the direction from Novorossiysk to Turkey increased by 20.6 percent, to $ 2.8 per barrel, Northern China — by 27.2 percent, to $ 10.2, East India — by 10 percent, to $ 6.5, and in West India — by 3.1 percent, to $6.

In turn, the rates for the freight of an Aframax class tanker from the Baltic ports to Northern China increased by 9 percent and reached the level of $ 11.7 per barrel. In the direction of Western India, the rates for booking Suezmax class vessels (135 thousand tons) from Novorossiysk and Murmansk increased by 1.3 percent (to 6.2 per barrel) and 3.4 percent (to 8.3 per barrel), respectively.

Experts attribute this dynamic to a number of factors. Among the main reasons for this trend, analysts attributed an increase in oil exports from Russian ports, a minimum discount ($13.5 per barrel) on Urals raw materials and stable exchange prices for the benchmark Brent grade, which are currently above the $85 mark on the London ICE exchange. In addition, the steady demand for raw materials from Chinese consumers also contributes to the rise in the cost of booking tankers in certain directions.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported a sharp increase in Russian oil exports by sea. Thus, by the end of June 2024, the weekly volume of exports of raw materials from the Russian Federation reached a level of 25.66 million barrels, which was the highest since May. The increase amounted to 4.37 million excluding shipments identified as the Kazakh KEBCO variety.