A new report from the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland) said that in the first half of 2025, Taiwan (China) imported 1.9 million tons of naphta from Russia, worth 1.3 billion USD - 6 times higher than the average of the same period 3 years ago. Naphta is a key raw material in the petrochemical and semiconductor manufacturing industries, which are considered the mach of this economy.
Since the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in February 2022, Taiwan (China) has imported a total of 6.8 million tons of Russian naphta worth 4.9 billion USD. Total imports of fossil fuels from Russia in the same period reached 11.2 billion USD.
Notably, some shipments are said to have prices exceeding the ceiling of 45 USD/barrel imposed by the G7. CREA affirmed that the majority of imports come from private enterprises.
Of which, Formosa - a major supplier for the chip industry - accounts for 96% of Russia's naphta imports from 2022 to mid-2025, compared to only 9% in 2021. The company said all transactions were in compliance with EU sanctions and were conducted through public bidding.
Taiwan (China) must import up to 95% of its energy demand by 2024, making dependence on external supply a constant pressure. India, mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and Türkiye are also among the major customers of naphta Russia.
Meanwhile, Russian crude oil exports have remained at a record high for the past 16 months, despite US President Donald Trump's strong efforts to force countries to cut imports of Russian oil and gas.
Russia exports an average of 3.62 million barrels of oil per day, nearing its highest level since May 2024.
Despite pressure from Washington, India continues to buy Russian oil and even has to bear additional 25% tariffs from the US. China has been tougher, saying it will strengthen energy cooperation with Russia and protect its interests against the risk of the US and G7 imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
In Europe, Hungary and Slovakia cited economic and infrastructure reasons for keeping pipeline imports unchanged, while Turkey remained steady at around 300,000 barrels/day.
In the last week of September, there were 36 ships carrying 26.75 million barrels of Russian crude oil, worth 1.57 billion USD, an increase of 240 million USD compared to the previous week. Russia's continued large-scale exports despite the continuous attack of UAVs from Ukraine on oil refineries shows that the global energy market has not yet been able to separate from supply from Moscow.
