Kazakhstan suspends oil product exchange trade: Update

Adds information on LPG

Kazakhstan has suspended commodity exchange trading until the situation in the country stabilises following the recent unrest there.

Trading companies began exchange sales of small volumes of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and bitumen at the end of March 2021, mostly through the Eurasian Trading System (ETS) exchange.

Companies that process crude at Kazakh refineries on a third-party basis must sell at least 10pc of the total volume of oil products they receive on exchanges, mostly for delivery to the domestic market.

LPG in Kazakhstan is also sold through the ETS exchange, as well as the Caspy Commodity Exchange and the Alan-Trade electronic trading platform. LPG e-commerce was launched in Kazakhstan in early 2019 to ensure supply to the domestic market.

The high price of LPG on exchanges led to the sharp increase in retail values that triggered the initial protests on 2 January.