Exports of Russian acetone dropped to just 2,666 mt in March after the explosion at the Omsk acetone plant forced other Russian producers to shift their focus to the domestic market, the latest data published by the Federal Customs Service showed Thursday.
This was a 51% reduction from February and a 67% decline on the year, the data showed.
The country exported to Turkey only a third of what it sent in March of last year, however, the volumes had been rising over the previous three months.
Finland imported under 40% of the volumes it took in last year on the heels of the EU's import duty hike from January 1.
There were no exports of acetone into Belarus, also one of the top recipients of Russian acetone.
At the start of March, Russian chemical producer Omsk Kauchuk shut its acetone/phenol plant for an estimated six months following a fire and an explosion. The company subsequently called for other Russian producers to divert some of their usually exported material to domestic consumers.
On an annual basis, the Omsk plant can produce around 60,000-65,000 mt of phenol and 36,000-40,000 mt of acetone. The plant had been running at full capacity, according to the company's management, as reported by Russian media.
