The West banned semiconductor exports to Russia as a sanction for the invasion of Ukraine, but Russia has almost filled the gap in sanctions by significantly increasing imports of Chinese semiconductor.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 26th that U.S. crude oil exports to Europe also surged as Russia stopped supplying energy to Europe due to opposition to sanctions.
According to leaked Russian customs data, Russia imports of semiconductors and semiconductor parts were close to the pre-war monthly average late last year, with more than half of them imported from China.
This phenomenon is also confirmed in the data from the China Customs Service.
According to data released by China’s Customs and Excise Department, integrated circuits (ICs) exported from China to Russia last year were worth USD 179 million, about 2.4 times higher than 2021 (USD 74 million).
There are also suspicions that China is indirectly exporting semiconductors to Russia through Turkiye, which is a member of NATO but does not participate in sanctions against Russia.
For certain semiconductors such as diodes and transistors, China’s overall export growth rate was 36% last year, but exports to Turkiye more than doubled.
During this period, exports of semiconductors similar to these items to Russia from Turkiye increased to 3.2 million dollars, about 4.2 billion won, about 40 times higher than $79,000 in 2021.
In addition, Turkiye’s exports of electronics and electrical machinery to Russia more than doubled last year to USD 559 million, about KRW 735 billion.
It is also known that U.S. Treasury officials visited Turkiye, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates earlier this month to crack down on Russia’s supply network.
The WSJ pointed out that China is not only not disclosing relevant data properly, but also appears to be bypassing exports through third countries such as Turkiye.
On top of that, considering China’s share of the global semiconductor trade, it is extremely difficult to crack down on semiconductors flowing into Russia through China.
Meanwhile, exports of U.S. crude oil to Europe also surged last year as Russia effectively cut off energy supplies to Europe.
According to energy market research firm Kapler, the average monthly crude oil exports by the United States to Europe by sea since February last year have soared 38% from the previous 12 months.
Exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe more than doubled last year.
