Growth in sea-borne imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Poland slowed 7% last year to 1.084 million metric tons, from a jump of more than 70% in 2022, with sea terminals working almost at capacity, according to traders and LSEG data.
Sea-borne imports account for some 35% of total LPG supplies to Poland, while deliveries by rail was more than 50%.
Poland also remained the main destination for Russian LPG, which was banned by the European Union last month over the conflict in Ukraine.
Some traders say Russia may divert LPG exports away from Poland to the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, which has the capacity to handle the spare volume, and further to Africa, Turkey and Asia Pacific.
Russia is exporting the bulk of its LPG to Poland by land. According to the Polish Association of Liquid Gas (POGP), Russia's share of total LPG supplies to Poland were more than a half, at 1.288 million tons, in the first half of 2023.
LPG, or propane and butane, is mainly used as fuel for cars, heating and to produce other petrochemicals.
Sweden retained top spot as largest LPG supplier to Poland via sea, accounting for 58.9% of total sea-borne supply, despite a 17.3% decline in its supplies to the country last year.
Other large suppliers stepped in to offset the decline in imports from Sweden. The Netherlands, Norway and Britain accounted for 11.3%, 10.8% and 8.4% of Poland's total sea-borne LPG imports.
Russia's share remained relatively small, at 1.7% of total sea-borne LPG imports to Poland, while the port of Gdansk was the main point for receiving the cargoes.
Following is the table for Poland's LPG imports (in thousands tons, according to LSEG and Reuters calculations):
| Suppliers | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 414.3 | 771.4 | 638.3 |
| Netherlands | 26.0 | 35.6 | 122.0 |
| Norway | 56.4 | 86.8 | 117.2 |
| United Kingdom | 37.3 | 31.6 | 90.7 |
| United States | 0.0 | 22.0 | 44.5 |
| Latvia | 0.0 | 10.1 | 24.0 |
| Russia | 49.5 | 31.1 | 18.7 |
| Belgium | 1.8 | 18.8 | 12.2 |
| Brazil | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.1 |
| France | 5.5 | 0.0 | 4.4 |
| Denmark | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.4 |
| Portugal | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Germany | 0.0 | 5.6 | 0.0 |
| Spain | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Total | 590.7 | 1,013.6 | 1,084.3 |
| Port | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gdansk | 355.4 | 606.1 | 571.6 |
| Gdynia | 89.5 | 135.0 | 255.8 |
| Szczecin | 145.7 | 250.5 | 215.4 |
| Police | 0.0 | 22.0 | 41.5 |
| Total | 590.7 | 1,013.6 | 1,084.3 |
(Reuters - Reporting by Damir Khalmetov; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Alexander Smith)