Russia expands liquefied fuel supplies to China

Supplies of liquefied petroleum gas from Russia to China this year may increase to 750 thousand tons against 450 thousand tons last year. This is stated in the Argus presentation, which was reviewed by Izvestia. According to an industry source, this is the assessment of market participants. As noted in the presentation, following the results of the five months of 2025, shipments to China by rail amounted to 230 thousand tons.

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"By the end of the year, shipments by rail to this country may amount to at least 550-600 thousand tons out of a total volume of 750 thousand tons, the rest will be transported by road," the source told Izvestia.

Despite the fact that by the end of last year, Russia delivered 450 thousand tons of LPG in total, the growth may amount to about 66%.

"Currently, Russia produces about 16 million tons of LPG, while China produces about 50 million tons and imports about 35 million tons. Of course, China is interested in diversifying supplies due to tariff wars, and we could increase exports. But the Russian Federation does not have marine terminals in the Far East for LPG transshipment. We only have the possibility of delivery by rail through Zabaikalsk, which is packed with goods, as well as transportation by road. Thus, we cannot compete with large tankers with a capacity of 45 thousand tons of gas, which deliver the product from the Persian Gulf countries or the United States," the source explained to Izvestia.

Tamara Safonova, General Director of the Independent Analytical Agency for the Oil and Gas Sector (NAANS-MEDIA LLC), recalled that after the 12th package of sanctions entered into force at the end of 2023, the bulk of LPG of Russian origin remained blocked for EU countries.

Before the introduction of restrictive measures, LPG exports amounted to about 4 million tons, added Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of VMT Consult. According to her, Russian supplies to foreign markets currently amount to less than 3 million tons. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have become alternatives to the European market for the sale of LPG from Russia, except for China.

The Chinese market, which is currently unencumbered by sanctions, is promising for the growth of LPG supplies from Russia, Tamara Safonova noted. However, according to her, there are a number of problems for significant growth in this regard due to the periodic shortage of tank cars for LPG transportation, decommissioning of decommissioned tanks, and downtime during border crossings.

According to Ekaterina Kosareva, geopolitical risks such as sanctions, tariff wars, and threats of straits closure are becoming an additional reason to strengthen good-neighborly, partnership relations between Russia and China. And any infrastructure issues, if they are of mutual interest, can be solved, they just take time. Russia has been living without a European sales market for only the third year, the expert notes.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Pressure on gas: Russia expands supplies of liquefied fuel to China