India’s base oils imports rose to a twenty-month high in November on the back of a rebound in shipments from South Korea and a resumption of arbitrage flows from the US.Total imports of more than 350,000t in November rose from less than 280,000t the previous month to the highest since March 2022, provisional customs data showed.The surge in shipments lifted total imports to 3.16mn t in the first eleven months of the year. The volume remained down 9pc from year-earlier levels of more than 3.45mn t.The pace of the contraction slowed from more than 20pc in the first six months of 2023 amid an increasingly firm recovery in flows during the second half of the year.Base oils imports rose in November on the back of a rebound in shipments from South Korea to around 180,000t. Imports from the northeast Asian country had held below the 100,000t level in three of the previous four months.Imports of more than 25,000t from the US in November rose from close to 7,000t the previous month to a four-month high.Imports from the US slowed in recent months because of a less feasible arbitrage and as US refiners focused on moving more supplies to outlets like Mexico and Latin America instead.The prospect of a sharp slowdown in US shipments to Mexico revived the importance of the arbitrage to India.A drop in US base oils prices relative to cfr India prices facilitated a pick-up in such flows.The rise in shipments from South Korea and the US countered a slowdown in flows from markets like Taiwan, China and Spain.Imports from Taiwan fell to less than 500t in November, down from typical levels of more than 10,000 t/month over the past year.The slowdown reflected the impact of plant maintenance work in Taiwan.The drop in shipments from Spain coincided with a slowdown in exports of premium-grade base oils from the country in October and November..India’s Nov lube demand holds firm.South Korea’s Oct exports to India rise
