Russia launches new chartered ships to trade commodities with China and India as wartime sanctions block typical supply chains

• Russian companies are launching chartered ships for key commodities trade with India and China, the Economic Times reported.
• The cargoes are meant to smooth out the delivery of critical raw materials as wartime sanctions snag typical supply chains.

Russia is set to smooth out trade with India and China as some Russian companies have launched chartered ships to ferry commodities between the countries, according to a report from the Economic Times.

Russia and India have launched the cargoes for easier delivery of critical raw materials, the report said, as wartime sanctions from the West have blocked the typical supply chains.

Additionally, China-based Swift Transport Group and Russian cargo company Inteco have collaborated on a shipping service between ports in Russia's far east and China, sources told the Economic Times.

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, neither China nor India has condemned the war, and both nations have continued doing business with Russia.

For the three months leading up to May, China roughly doubled its spending on Russian energy imports compared to a year ago to $19 billion, per the report. China's independent oil refiners have been buying supplies from Moscow for cheap as well, the Financial Times reported in May.

Meanwhile, India has spent $5.1 billion in the same stretch, about five times year-ago levels. India has snapped up discounted Russian oil, importing more of it so far in 2022 than it did in all of 2021.

Western sanctions against Russia have dissuaded some countries from doing business with Moscow, and some companies are self-sanctioning.

Russia is seeking to boost alternate trade partners. And during a speech at the Caspian Summit in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is pushing into the Caspian region with new port infrastructure.

"First of all, we are talking about building the International North-South Transport Corridor," he said. "This is a truly ambitious project, a 7,200-kilometer-long transport artery from St. Petersburg to ports in Iran and India."