Poland increases imports of seaborne LPG by 73% in 2022 - Reuters

Poland, the largest buyer of Russian liquefied petroleum gas, raised seaborne imports of European LPG by 73% last year, replacing rail supplies from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan with cheaper products from Scandinavia and the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub, according to traders and Eikon data, Reuters reports.

Poland's seaborne LPG imports jumped to 1.014 million tonnes in 2022, from 585,000 tonnes in 2021, while Russian rail supplies to Poland, which including transit through Belarus internal railways, fell by 200,000 tonnes to 1.4 million tonnes, Reuters calculations showed.

Russian LPG is not subject to a European Union import ban, unlike oil and other oil products, but Polish importers are diversifying supply chains to boost imports of non-Russian LPG.

Seaborne LPG imports to Poland rose sharply in the second half of 2022, as propane prices on CIF ARA basis were some $100 per tonne below prices on the Belarus-Poland border at the city of Brest (DAP Brest) .

The main supplier of LPG to Polish ports in 2022 was Sweden, which accounted for 76.1% of total seaborne imports, some 771,000 tonnes, while Norway and the Netherlands supplied 8.6% and 3.5% respectively, Eikon data showed.

The share of Russia's seaborne LPG supplies to Poland in 2022 fell to 3.1% from 8.5% in 2021 amid lower Sibur shipments from the port of Ust-Luga.

Poland's Gdansk remains the main hub for seaborne LPG imports with a 59.8% share, or 606,000 tonnes, while Szczecin and Gdynia accounted for 24.7% and 13.3% respectively.

In December, Polish chemical holding Azoty Group launched its new LPG transhipment terminal in Police and received a first tanker of LPG from the United States.

The facility will allow Poland to import more LPG by sea, mainly from the United States and ARA region.