US base oils exports to Europe fell in July as a less attractive arbitrage for Group II base oils coincided with slowing demand and improving supply in the European market.Group I base oils exports by contrast rose to the highest in more than six years as a wave of overseas suppliers tapped Europe’s high prices for the grade.Total base oils exports of 439,000 barrels (62,000 tonnes) to Europe in July fell from a seven-month-high of more than 736,000 barrels in June, government data showed.The drop in shipments slowed the pace of a build-up of premium-grade supplies in Europe during the summer months.The region's premium-grade supply faced the prospect of rising amid a seasonal slowdown in demand and a recovery in base oils output in the Netherlands during the second-quarter of the year.The weaker supply-demand fundamentals limited any upward pressure on regional Group II base oils prices during the third quarter.US base oils export prices by contrast extended their rise, cutting their discount to Europe prices to the narrowest since last October.The narrower price gap and a round of stock-building in the US during the Atlantic hurricane season curbed the attraction of moving more shipments to Europe.Lower exports of premium-grade base oils to Europe contrasted with a surge in shipments of Group I supplies to the region.US exports of 66,000 barrels to Europe in July followed another large shipment in March. Before that month, the last time Group I exports to Europe exceeded 1,000 barrels/month was in 2018.Europe’s unusually firm Group I prices relative to US prices boosted the attraction of such shipments.The premium of domestic Europe Group I brightstock prices to US export prices rose to more than $80/tonne in June and July.Europe's prices had been at a discount of around $100/tonne to US prices during most of the first quarter of the year and an average discount of more than $160/tonne to US prices in 2023.The US exports added to other Group I base oils shipments to Europe from infrequent suppliers such as Turkey.These supplemented a rise in Group I shipments from refiners in Europe to outlets within the region.The trend boosted Group I supplies in Europe and cut flows of the grade to markets outside the region..US July base oils exports fall
