Cost of shipping diesel from India to Europe increased as a result of the Houthi attacks; Ships are now sailing eastward rather than west

This month's diesel shipments to Europe from India are at their lowest level since 2022. International commerce is being disrupted by Houthi attacks on merchant ships. Cargo should now be shipped east rather than west due to the ongoing unrest in the Red Sea. This has led to a major decrease in the flow of cargo to the UK and the EU.

According to Bloomberg-compiled data from Vortex Ltd., fuel arrivals from Europe to India averaged 18,000 barrels per day in the first two weeks of February, a decrease of more than 90% from the January average. James Noel-Beswick, an analyst at Sparta Commodities, claims that the increased cost of shipping to the West is primarily to blame for the drop in diesel shipments.

"The economics of exporting to Singapore in the East have been much better than those to the West," Noel-Beswick said. Tankers heading to Europe or the Atlantic Basin have to divert to South Africa's Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Houthi threat. This increases the length and cost of the journey, leading to a decline in the number of shipments.

According to the data, there were no imports of diesel-type fuel into the EU and only one shipment into Britain in the first two weeks of February. However, the Marlin Sicily and Marlin La Plata recently loaded barrels in India and headed for Rotterdam, according to port reports and tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.