Sergey Kondratiev, Deputy Head of the Economic Department of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Kommersant newspaper on freight rates for the transportation of Russian oil cargo.
The Russian Ministry of Transport proposes to limit freight rates for a number of goods transported by the Russian fleet. According to Kommersant's information, we are talking about oil and oil products.
Freight rates for the transportation of Russian oil from Novorossiysk to the Mediterranean are $23-25 per ton, from Kozmino to Chinese ports - $10-12 per ton, to India - over $30 per ton, Sergey Kondratiev says.
It is now difficult to estimate how much freight rates will increase after December 4 (on December 5, the embargo on Russian oil comes into force), the expert says, “but in March-April, at the peak of the refusal of Russian oil in Europe, we saw rates of $ 58-49 per ton on the route Primorsk-North-Western Europe - ten times higher than the level before the outbreak of hostilities.“Now the cost of freight is two to four times higher than before February, but at current world prices for Urals ($72–73 per barrel), it allows Russian oilmen to maintain a high export margin.”
The government's desire to regulate freight rates in the face of impending restrictions on the transportation of Russian oil is understandable, the expert believes. Due to the low share of Russian companies, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on the market, Mr. Kondratiev says, but "may create an asymmetry."“The bill provides for the regulation of freight rates only for Russian shipowners,” Sergey Kondratiev notes, “while now most export and import cargo is transported by foreign shipping companies, for which this bill will not change anything.”

Subscribe for updates
and be the first to know about new publications