The key discharge ports for Russian shipments have changed considerably since February 2022, according to new analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The increased shipping activity from Russia to Turkey, China, Mexico, India, South Africa and UAE has risen between January and September 2022.
Port activity between August 2021 and August 2022 is down by 3,000 vessels, the market analysis firm wrote in a new report highlighting the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
All of these countries have significantly increased their exposure to Russian trade, the report wrote, arguing Russian port departure activity of cargo-carrying vessels involved in merchant trade in Q2 2022 reduced in volume but has begun to bounce back in Q3.
READ: Ukraine-Russia conflict rocks Port of Rotterdam box volumes
July and August demonstrated greater activity at Russian ports but still highlights a dip compared to pre-invasion levels.
In certain cases, Turkey and China are exporting goods such as antennas, radar apparatus, vacuum pumps and optical sights in larger volumes.
READ: Global Ports container throughput collapses as Russia-Ukraine war rages on
S&P Global Market Intelligence reported in the first month of the Russia/Ukraine conflict that there was no immediate increase of multiple vessels going dark and making unscheduled port calls.
In the following months, however, there has been an increase in vessels switching off their AIS transponders to potentially load and discharge cargo, specifically in areas listed as high risk by the Joint War Committee (JWC).
“Data shows an increase in dark activity with a peak in September, additionally, the average number of hours a vessel remains dark is growing steadily,” the company wrote.
