Spain’s Nov Cartagena exports fall

Exports of premium-grade base oils from the Spanish port of Cartagena fell in November to their lowest in nine months, at a time when supply from other sources in Europe was tighter.

Exports of less than 36,000t in November fell from more than 47,000t in October to the lowest since February, according to Port Authority of Cartagena (PAC) data.

Exports also fell from year-earlier levels for the third time in four months. They had previously risen for six months to July.

The recent slowdown in shipments cut total exports to around 495,000t in the first eleven months of the year.

The volume was up 27pc from 390,050t during the same period last year. The pace of the increase slowed from almost 50pc growth in the first half of the year.

This year’s rise in shipments from Cartagena helped to partially balance out a sharp slowdown in Group III base oils supplies to Europe from the Mideast Gulf and Asia-Pacific.

More shipments from those markets moved instead to the US, where Group III base oils demand and prices were firmer than in Europe.

The slowdown in shipments from Cartagena raised the prospect of tighter premium-grade supplies in Europe if more shipments from the Mideast Gulf and Asia-Pacific continued to move to other markets.

The slowdown coincided with a fall in total exports of premium-grade base oils from Indonesia in recent months as well as plant maintenance work in northern Europe.

Europe’s Group III base oils prices firmed relative to crude oil in recent weeks and relative to Group I and Group II base oils throughout the fourth quarter of the year.

Prices firmed in response to tighter Group III supply-demand fundamentals.

But the Group III price premium to crude and to Group I and Group II base oils prices was still lower than in second-half 2021. Its discount to US Group III prices also continued to widen.