Argentina’s national oil company YPF increased its share of the country’s lubricants market in May as it raised its share of total industrial lube sales.

The energy firm boosted its market share to 40.7pc of Argentina’s total lube sales in May, government data showed. The share was up from 37.3pc the previous month.

The higher share mostly reflected a 26pc rise in its sales of industrial oils from April. The trend boosted its share of industrial oils sales to 55pc of the total in May, up from less than 46pc the previous month.

Shell remained Argentina’s second-largest lubricant brand with an almost 26pc share of total sales. The share fell by more than 2 percentage points from April as a rise in auto lubricants sales was insufficient to counter lower industrial oils sales.

Total Especialidades Argentina’s share of the lube market came to less than 13.5pc in May, down from a 15.5pc share the previous month.

Argentina’s lube demand rose in May for the third time in four months and at its fastest pace in eight months. The trend mirrored similar strength in Brazil’s lube market.