Reported by: Bridget Diakun

RUSSIA’s outbound seaborne trade remains stable despite successive waves of sanctions levelled against Moscow by the European Union, US and UK.

According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data there were approximately 2,064 vessel departures from Russia to foreign ports in August compared with 2,109 in July.

While outbound sailings dropped 10% in response to the initial round of sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, volumes quickly rebounded with month-on-month growth recorded in both April and May and have levelled out since then. 

Despite EU sanctions now approaching their eight iteration, the unprecedented barrage of prohibitions covering thousands of Russian firms and individuals and trades have only managed to reduce the number of vessels exporting goods from Russian ports by 2% from July to August.

Russia’s international seaborne trade has adapted quickly to the sanctions regime, finding alternative trading partners. 

Between April and June, Algeria, Bulgaria, China, Georgia, Indian, Mexico, Moldova, Slovenia, South Africa, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates all accepted a greater number of vessels when compared with the same period last year. 

Türkiye and China have significantly increased their exposure to Russia trade, receiving 26% and 12%, respectively, of departing ships in the second quarter. In 2021 these figures were 19% and 7%.

Read full report: https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/LL1142456/Sanctions-fail-to-stem-Russias-outbound-seaborne-trade