Vietnam’s base oils and lube imports rose in September for the third time in four months, pointing to steady demand or a rise in inventories.Steady demand would speed up consumption of blenders’ stocks and subsequent moves to replenish those inventories.A rise in inventories would instead point to weaker end-user demand and push back the timing of any stock-replenishment plans.Total imports of base oils and lubricants combined came to more than 36,000 tonnes, provisional customs data showed.The volume rose by more than 25% from year-earlier levels to a thirteen-month high..Imports rose because of a pick-up in lubricants shipments that outweighed a slowdown in flows of base oils supplies.The dynamic left lubricants imports accounting for the largest share of total imports in ten months..The larger share of lubricants shipments could reflect concern about the strength of end-user demand and exposure to downward pressure on base oils prices.The larger volume of lubricants shipments curbed buyers’ exposure to any such base oils price-pressure and speeded up the time between delivery and sale of the supplies compared with base oils..Asia’s August lube demand, base oils supply rises
