sao paulo april 11 reuters  brazils imports of cheaper diesel from russia are expected to soar in april accounting for 53 of the total diesel shipped to the country compared to 02 a year ago commodity price reporting agency argus said on tuesday the estimate took into account expected shipments of russian diesel brought in by 10 to 15 ships which typically carry about 50000 cubic meters argus diesel market specialist gabrielle moreira told reuters at an event in sao paulo it is difficult to compete russian diesel arrives below the sale price of domestic refineries and below the value of the product imported from other origins she said the data gathered by argus also point out that the russian product is gaining market share from us diesel which traditionally accounts for most of the product imported by brazil which buys about 30 of its needs abroad russian diesel arrives in brazil at some 020 to 030 cheaper per gallon than imports from other countries according to the head of the brazilian association of fuel importers abicom sergio araujo he said russia has been expanding diesel exports to brazil in the face of bans on the russian product by europe a major buyer before moscow launched its invasion of ukraine last year brazil has no import restrictions on russian diesel despite widespread international sanctions some companies however still avoid buying russian fuel for fear of financial sanctions linked to compliance rules according to seminar participants brazils regional fuel distributors many of them smaller have taken advantage of the good prices of the russian product to expand imports in 2022 brazils diesel imports were still dominated by the us product which represented 572 of the market while russia had just 1 according to government data compiled by argus in the first quarter of this year russias share increased to 132 while the us accounted for 331 of brazils diesel imports