EU countries sharply increase imports of petroleum products from Azerbaijan in Jan-May

BAKU. July 31 (Interfax) - European Union countries increased imports of petroleum products from Azerbaijan in January through May 2023 nearly three-hundred fold to 95,136 tonnes, Eurostat reports.

In monetary terms, shipments increased 217 times to 62.188 million euro.

A significant increase in shipments occurred in May, when the EU imported 61,075 tonnes of petroleum products from Azerbaijan with a value of 40.224 million euro. In that month, almost the entire volume of shipments went to two buyers: Cyprus (32,465 tonnes at a price of 24.956 million euros) and Greece (28,249 thousand tonnes at 14.955 million euros). Small volumes were exported to Bulgaria and Finland as well.

A year ago, of these countries, only Bulgaria imported Azerbaijani petroleum products, and in small volumes.

Meanwhile, the EU exported 5,400 tonnes of petroleum products to Azerbaijan over the five-month period, a 3.8% decrease compared to the same period in 2022. The total value was 16.617 million euros, a 45.6% increase.

During this period, Azerbaijan imported 2,211 tonnes of petroleum products from Germany, a 46.2% increase, worth 8.873 million euros (a 93.1% increase), and 1,346 tonnes from Belgium, a 22.4% decrease, worth 3.959 million euros (a 30.6% increase).

Azerbaijan imported smaller volumes of petroleum products from Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

Eurostat shows that, in 2022, the EU increased imports of petroleum products from Azerbaijan 34.5% compared to 2021, to 17,600 tonnes, with a value of 15.189 million euros, a 2.3-fold increase. In addition, petroleum product exports from the EU to Azerbaijan in 2022 totaled 14,091 tonnes (an 81.1% decrease compared to 2021) worth 35.881 million euros (a 38.9% decrease).