New Delhi: India is currently buying cheap oil from Russia in large quantities. Apart from crude oil, there is one more thing which India is buying a lot from Russia.
The name of this thing is naphtha. In the month of June, India and Taiwan were the biggest buyers of naphtha coming from Russia. LSEG data shows that these countries bought cheap naphtha from Russia.
What did India purchase from Russia?
Naphtha is an essential item used in the petrochemical industry. Olefins and aromatics are made from it. Then plastics, synthetic resins, synthetic fibers and many types of chemicals are made from them. In February 2023, the European Union (EU) completely banned oil products coming from Russia. After this, countries of the Middle East and Asia started buying naphtha from Russia.
How much naphtha was bought from Russia?
According to Reuters, 250,000 tonnes of naphtha was sent to India from Russian ports in June. This was 5% less than in May. But in the first six months of the year 2025, India bought more than 1.4 million tonnes of naphtha from Russia. Shipping data showed that Russian naphtha arrived at India’s western ports, such as Mundra, Hazira and Sikka. India used to buy naphtha from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier. But now it is buying cheaper naphtha from Russia so that it has to spend less money.
At the same time, according to LSEG data, 234,000 tonnes of naphtha was sent from Russia to Taiwan last month. This was double the amount in May. Between January and June, Taiwan bought 12.7 lakh tonnes of naphtha from Russia. Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey and China were also among the major countries buying Russian naphtha in June.
What is the situation of other countries?
Ship-tracking data showed no cargo from Russia arrived in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in June. In May, Russia sent 80,000 tonnes of naphtha to the UAE. Ships carrying about 300,000 tonnes of Russian naphtha are headed to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. Asia received 150,000 tonnes of naphtha in May. From December 2023, traders have been avoiding the Red Sea because of the threat of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group. Therefore, they are shipping Russian oil products around Africa.