Bitumen production at Orlen Lietuva's 190,000 b/d Mazeikiai refinery in Lithuania tripled in the first quarter to 99,000t compared with a year earlier, according to data released by parent company PKN Orlen.
The output surge came despite a 5.8pc drop in crude processing at the refinery to 2.13mn t over the same period, with market participants saying the rise in bitumen volumes was the result of a partial switch away from high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) production.
Orlen Lietuva said earlier this month it plans to boost bitumen production at the refinery by around 150,000-200,000t by the end of 2024.
According to the Lithuanian official statistics portal (OSP), bitumen exports from the country climbed by 53,800t to 88,000t in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2022. Bitumen has been pouring into northeast Poland, as well as Lithuania's neighbouring Baltic states, and exported on cargoes from the Lithuanian export terminal at Klaipeda and from Liepaja, Latvia.
EU sanctions on Russian bitumen exports took effect from 27 May, halting truck exports from the country into Baltic and other markets but also cargo flows from Russian Baltic ports into Scandinavia, the UK and other destinations.
This has generated increased demand for alternative flows, with Mazeikiai supplies likely to be increasingly needed into Baltic and northwest European destinations as the summer road construction season gathers pace.
The OSP data also showed that Lithuanian bitumen consumption in the first quarter of this year rose by 3,100t to 16,300t. The country imported 2,600t of the product in January-March, compared with 3,900t over the same period of 2022.
By Ivan Kudinov and Tom Woodlock
