Base oils supply in the Americas extended its fall in October, curbing the impact of weakening demand and the arrival of a wave of arbitrage shipments from other markets.The extended fall in supply likely curbed any significant supply-build in the region during the final months of last year.More balanced supply at the start of this year was in turn likely to curb refiners’ urgency to clear surplus volumes in the export market unless buyers accepted prices that they were targeting.The imminent start of plant maintenance work in the US was likely to trim further the volume of surplus supplies.More balanced supplies in Latin America also supported steady flows to that region at the start of this year.Base oils supply of less than 680,000t in October fell from more than 700,000t the previous month, according to production data from major base oil-producing countries in the region..The volume was the second lowest in twenty months. The lowest in that time was in August.The drop in supplies for a seventh month cut the Americas’ total base oils supply to 7.43mn t in the first ten months of the year.The volume was down 9pc from 8.17mn t during the same period in 2021 and just 4pc above levels of 7.14mn t during the same period in 2020.Low supply in 2020 coincided with a slump in demand because of lockdowns to control the Covid-19 virus.Low supply in 2022 coincided with firm demand in the Americas region throughout most of the year.The tight fundamentals supported firm prices and attracted a steady flow of arbitrage shipments from the markets like Mideast Gulf and Asia-Pacific.Low supply during the final months of 2022 also countered the impact of weakening demand in the Americas..Americas’ October lube demand mixed
