China’s Oct base oils imports fall

China’s base oils imports fell in October to the lowest in more than six years amid signs of still-muted lube demand in the country.

Base oils imports of 61,400t in October fell from a six-month high of more than 161,000t in September and by 42pc from year-earlier levels, government data showed.

The slowdown from year-earlier levels was the first in eight months. It suggested that importers and blenders were taking longer to absorb the higher volumes imported in September.

The drop in shipments left total imports of 1.46mn t in the first ten months of the year still lagging year-earlier levels of 1.55mn t.

Imports from Taiwan slumped, as expected. Taiwan’s Group II base oils unit began a scheduled shutdown for maintenance work in October.

Shipments of 2,900t from Taiwan in October fell from 14,800t the previous month to the lowest in more than two years.

There was no corresponding rise in shipments from other markets to cover for the slowdown in supplies from Taiwan.