US base oils and lube exports fell to a seven-month low in April amid a slump in shipments to key outlets for surplus supplies such as Mexico and India.Shipments to other more regular outlets held firm.Total base oils and lube exports of 3.42 million barrels (481,000 tonnes) in April fell from more than 3.90 million barrels the previous month to the lowest since last September, government data showed. .The drop in exports coincided with a heavy round of plant-maintenance work and seasonal pick-up in demand in the US at the start of the second quarter of the year.The tighter fundamentals cut availability of surplus volumes, curbing the need to line up outlets for the supplies.A slump in exports to Mexico, Africa and India reflected that dynamic.Total base oils and engine oils exports to those three markets combined came to less than 1.40 million barrels in April.The volume was the lowest in eleven months and down from close to or more than 2 million barrels during each of the previous six months.The 8% fall in shipments from year-earlier levels also outpaced the 5% drop in total US shipments to other markets.The arbitrage to move shipments to markets like India stayed open despite the tighter fundamentals and drop in shipments in April.The open arbitrage reflected relatively muted support for US base oils prices from the tighter fundamentals at the start of the second quarter.The muted support for firmer US base oils prices in turn pointed to concern that supply-demand fundamentals remained weaker than usual even with the temporary supply-tightness.The muted price support also highlighted the importance of export outlets as the key market for US base oils supplies and the need to sustain access to those outlets.Recent moves to line up spot supplies for shipment from the US to India pointed to a pick-up in availability of surplus supplies just weeks after the completion of most of the plant maintenance work.The availability of surplus supplies suggested refiners had already completed stock-replenishment after the maintenance work, while domestic demand was insufficient to absorb the pick-up in surplus volumes..US' March base oils exports stay high.S Korea’s April base oil exports stay low.India’s April base oils imports rise
