South Korea’s base oils output fell to a twenty-one month low in March, with unplanned production issues at one plant compounding the impact of scheduled maintenance work at another.The steep fall in production and in net supply squeezed the country’s stocks.Lower stocks slowed the prospect of a pick-up in surplus supplies following the completion of the maintenance work that ended in second-half April.South Korea’s total base oils output of 1.97 million barrels (278,000 tonnes) in March fell from an already-low 2.38 million barrels the previous month, KPA data showed..The March volume was the lowest since mid-2023, when output also fell because of plant maintenance work.The March volume was also much lower than levels around 2.50 million barrels/month in the two months to October 2024, when another Group II base oils unit was offline for maintenance work.A round of stock-building preceded the plant-maintenance work last September and in the first quarter of this year.The country’s net supply rose in three of the four months to last September, when the earlier plant maintenance work began.The additional stocks helped to cushion the impact of the plant maintenance work and limit the fall in South Korea’s base oils exports during the shutdown.Net supply by contrast fell in four of the five months to February, when the latest plant maintenance work began.The supply shortfall widened even more sharply in March, by the largest volume in more than five years.The steeper supply shortfall could leave South Korea’s refiners managing their exports more carefully at the start of the second quarter as they first replenish depleted stocks.Lower stocks would also curb for longer any pick-up in surplus supply.A more manageable surplus would ease pressure on refiners to adjust prices to clear any such volumes. .S Korea’s March base oils exports fall.S Korea’s February base oils output falls
