Turkey and Brazil have been the main importers of Russian seaborne diesel and gasoil since the European Union banned the import of Russian oil products, data from market sources and finance company LSEG showed.

Before the full EU embargo went into effect in February 2023, Europe was the biggest buyer of Russian diesel.

According to the LSEG data, Russia shipped about 1.07 million metric tons of low-sulphur diesel and gasoil to Turkey in September after shipping 1.04 million tons the previous month.

Diesel exports from the Russian ports to Brazil increased last month to 0.78 million tons versus 0.58 million tons in August, shipping data shows.

Traders note increasing volumes of Russian diesel heading towards ship-to-ship (STS) transfers near the Italian port of Augusta and Greek islands, which totalled around 370,000 tons in September after 230,000 tons the previous month.

Most of those cargoes are still underway, and their final destinations are as yet unknown.

Meanwhile, diesel exports from Russian ports to African countries fell last month to 0.44 million tons from 0.73 million tons in August. Libya, Tunisia, Senegal and Egypt were among top importers, according to the shipping data.

In total, Russian seaborne diesel and gasoil export supplies rose in September by about 7% from August to around 2.8 million tons, Reuters calculations based on LSEG and market sources data showed.

Source: Reuters reported by Reuters edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise