S Korea’s April exports to India/Mideast Gulf hold firm

South Korea’s base oils exports to India rose to a three-month high in April as buyers locked in more supplies at prices they deemed to have bottomed out.

The rise in exports balanced out a slowdown in shipments to the Mideast Gulf to a four-month low.

The move reversed a more recent trend of higher shipments to the Mideast Gulf since the fourth quarter of last year.

The shipments helped to cushion a slowdown in exports to India.

Base oils exports of 83,560t to India in April rose from 74,200t the previous month and by 3pc from year-earlier levels.

Exports of 293,770t to India in the first four months of the year were still down 14pc from 341,380t during the same period last year.

Exports of 114,830t to the Mideast Gulf during the same period rose from 39,150t during the first four months of 2022. The rise in shipments more than countered the slowdown in flows to India.