In January-February, these plants produced about 138 thousand tons, while imports to the country amounted to 135.75 thousand tons. Thus, the share of gasoline production at legal refineries within the country during this period exceeded 50% of the market balance.
This happened not due to an increase in domestic production volumes, but primarily due to a reduction in the market itself. The output of gasoline by the Kremenchug refinery and the Shebelinka gas processing plant in January-February 2019 remained practically unchanged compared to the same period last year. At the same time, imports fell by 11.4% — from 153.3 thousand tons in January-February 2018 to 135.75 thousand tons in January-February of this year.
The import structure also changed significantly. If in January-February of last year, supplies from Belarusian refineries accounted for 72% of imports, then in the first two months of this year — 56%. Accordingly, the share of gasoline produced at Lithuanian and Polish refineries of the Orlen group increased from 27% to 44% (see chart).
In absolute terms, gasoline imports from Belarus in January-February decreased by 31% (by 34.4 thousand tons) to 76.5 thousand tons, while supplies from Lithuania and Poland increased by 45.5% (by 18.5 thousand tons) to 59.2 thousand tons.
Overall, the gasoline market balance for two months of 2019 decreased by 6.2% (by 18 thousand tons) and amounted to 274 thousand tons.
