Rates for tankers shipping Russian crude from the Pacific coast have fallen sharply after more than trebling following US sanctions in January.
Freight costs have been halved for cargoes of Espo crude moved out of the Kozmino terminal, traders told Reuters.
Rates had hit $7.5m per voyage to China last month as the US blacklisted 183 ships.
The shortage of available aframax tankers has now eased, however.
Traders said that as more “clean” non-sanctioned ships join the trade, rates have dropped to between $4m and $5m, still massively up on the $1.5m before the 10 January US sanctions.
“The supply chain disruption has eased somewhat, but is not totally resolved as China has largely stuck to the ban on designated vessels that fall outside the waivers,” one source said.
Another trader said: “I hope that new vessels will arrive at the end of February and then rates may ease even more.”
Shipments from Kozmino appear largely unaffected.
Last month, the terminal shipped out 3.5m tonnes of crude, or 850,000 barrels per day, against an average of 3.8m tonnes per month in 2024, a trading source told Reuters.
At the end of January, UK shipbroker Braemar said wider American sanctions on Russia-trading tankers had drawn more veteran vessels into the business for the first time.
The London shop identified 10 ships loading Russian oil that had never been involved in the trade before.
Of the elderly tankers making their debut since the US blacklisting, eight loaded Russian barrels in the Baltic Sea.
One more lifted a cargo in the Black Sea, while another loaded in Asia.
Asian trading in March-loading Russian oil had almost ground to a halt towards the end of January as tanker rates and oil prices jumped.
Traders said the widening price gap between buyers and sellers had stalled the market as freight costs soared.
Offers for Espo crude spiked to premiums of between $3 and $5 per barrel to the ICE Brent benchmark on a delivered ex-ship basis to China.
The premium was approaching $2 per barrel before the US blacklisting.
