As journalists managed to find out, the Chinese port operator Shandong Port Group has closed its ports to tankers of the Russian "shadow fleet" that have fallen under US sanctions.
Points of attention
- The decision of the Chinese port operator could significantly complicate the oil import chain from Russia.
- Despite these restrictions, most of the Russian shadow fleet can avoid sanctions.
- President Biden's team plans to expand sanctions against Russian tankers.
New problems for Russia
According to insider journalists among oil traders, Shandong Port Group controls the main ports on the east coast of China.
What is important to understand is that we are talking about Qingdao, Zhizhao, and Yantai, which remain key terminals for importing oil that has been subject to sanctions.
In particular, Shandong province is a major route for oil imports from Russia, Venezuela and Iran. Last year, the province imported about 17% of all oil imported into China. As Reuters notes, Shandong is home to many independent oil refineries, which are the largest importers of oil from such troubled countries.
Traders point out that the ban will increase the cost of supplying Russian oil to independent refiners in Shandong.
What impact will this decision have?
According to analysts' forecasts, no significant effect should be expected yet, as the ban covers only those tankers of the "shadow fleet" that have fallen under US sanctions.
What is important to understand is that most of this fleet has so far avoided sanctions restrictions.
A statement on this occasion was made by Michele Wiese Bockmann, an expert in the marine data group of Lloyd's List Intelligence.
She points out that the active shadow fleet transporting Iranian, Russian, and Venezuelan oil currently numbers approximately 669 tankers. According to the latest data, only 250-300 of them were transporting Russian oil.
Moreover, the Russian Sovcomflot also transports Russian oil in its own tankers.
Insiders have learned that Joe Biden's team is soon planning to impose sanctions on more than 100 tankers carrying Russian oil.
