Europe July Group III imports from Mideast Gulf rise

Europe’s Group III base oils imports from the Mideast Gulf rose in July to a four-month high just as regional demand faced a seasonal slowdown.

Base oils imports from UAE and Bahrain combined rose to 20,890t in July, EU government data showed. The volume was up from 13,300t the previous month and the highest since March.

But imports fell in July from year-earlier levels for the seventh time in eight months, cutting total shipments to 132,900t in the first seven months of the year.

The volume was down 33pc from 197,370t during the same period last year.

Including Qatar, total imports of more than 283,600t of Group III base oils from the Mideast Gulf in the first seven months of the year were down 28pc from 395,710t during the same period last year.  

Europe’s Group III base oils prices have softened this year relative to Group I prices and to crude and diesel even with the fall in supplies from the Mideast Gulf.

The softer prices partly reflected weaker lube demand in the region as surging energy costs and rising inflation cut short a brief post-lockdown economic recovery earlier in the year.

Regional availability of Group III base oils also got a boost from a rebound in supplies from European producers.

Supplies from those plants had been unusually low during the first half of 2021 because of overlapping plant maintenance work.

A pick-up in shipments from those plants this year countered lower imports from Mideast Gulf and Asia-Pacific, leaving European supply only slightly lower than year-earlier levels.

The pick-up in Europe’s base oils imports from Mideast Gulf in July coincided with a seasonal slowdown in demand during the summer holidays.

But it came ahead of scheduled Group III plant maintenance in Mideast Gulf and in Europe during the third quarter of the year.