Russia's chemical export ban spares Svalbard supplies

Russia has banned exports of benzene, toluene, xylenes and phenol for three months, exempting supplies for its operations on Svalbard, the government announced on 2 November. It said it must keep its own factories supplied.

The ban, signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, applies to shipments outside the Eurasian Economic Union, the Russia-led trade bloc that includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Transit shipments and humanitarian aid are also exempt.

The government listed civilian uses including paints and coatings, food packaging, flooring, cable insulation and medicine. The chemicals are also basic feedstocks for the wider chemical industry, and toluene is a raw material for TNT.

The measure follows a run of Ukrainian strikes on Russian chemical and propellant plants. Ukraine has recently reported hitting the Tolyattikauchuk and Voronezhsintezkauchuk rubber plants, which Kyiv says make rubbers used in solid rocket propellant. Ukrainian drones and Neptune missiles struck the Kamensky Combine in Rostov region on the night of 31 October, and President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the attack the next day, The Defence Blog reported.

Coverage: The Defence Blog