Shipping records obtained by OPIS indicate 143,000 metric tons (mt) of LPG was shipped out of Ust-Luga in January, the highest level since a record 144,000 mt was exported last July.

Of the total, 60,000 mt of propane was exported while butane reached an unsurpassed level of 84,000 mt.

This comes as Russia’s crude oil production shows no sign of slowing down despite prices depressed around $30/bbl. The latest figures from Russia’s Ministry of Energy show that the country’s crude oil production, including gas condensate, ramped up to the highest on record at 46 million mt in January, 2% higher than the same time last year. 

Russian gas processing group Sibur is the sole marketer of Ust-Luga’s LPG volumes. 

Ust-Luga has a throughput capacity of 1.5 million mt/year of LPG, although plans have been expressed to increase that to 2.4 million mt/year (see OPIS alert, Nov. 3, 2015), which may see the Baltic terminal rivaling that of Norway’s Karsto.

OPIS ship tracking indicates that the majority of Ust-Luga LPG flows to terminals in northwest Europe in Handysize (10,000-12,000 mt) cargoes.

Norway’s Rafnes was the biggest outlet for Ust-Luga LPG in January, importing over half of the Baltic terminal’s propane at 33,000 mt in three Handysize shipments for feedstock use in the nearby petrochemical cracker.

France was closely second at 32,000 mt, also importing three Handysize shipments of which one propane cargo was sold into Donges and two butane parcels into Le Havre.

The biggest outlet within the Baltic Sea was Poland’s Gdansk, which imported some 28,000 mt of propane and butane in a combination of Handysize and pressurized cargoes.

Other notable destinations include the U.K.’s Teesside and Canvey Island, Sweden’s Stenungsund, and the Netherland’s Flushing.