Europe’s base oils imports from Russia held steady in November, leaving buyers with a shrinking period of time to line up alternative supplies.An EU ban on imports of Russian oil products, including base oils, comes into effect in early February.Most of Russia’s base oils supplies consist of Group I base oils.European buyers had in previous years built up large stocks of these supplies at the end and start of each year.They had used the supplies to help cover for a drop in regional availability during a round of plant maintenance work that typically took place during the first half of each year.That supply buffer will be much smaller this year following the slump in shipments from Russia since the second quarter of last year.The smaller volume of shipments, and buyers’ need to find alternative supply sources, raised the prospect of tighter-than-usual availability of Group I base oils in Europe over the coming months.The drop in supply would coincide with a seasonal recovery in demand.Europe’s base oils imports of more than 10,000t from Russia in November rose from 8,600t in October to a three-month high, EU data showed..Imports mostly held in a narrow 10,000-13,000 t/month range since last May. They had averaged more than 24,000 t/month in the first four months of last year.The slowdown since then cut total shipments to 177,680t in the first eleven months of last year. The volume was down 11pc from 198,960t during the same period in 2021.The steady even if lower volume of imports helped to cushion the impact on Russian base oils producers.A surge in Russian base oils exports to Turkey provided additional support and more than compensated for the drop in supplies to Europe.Europe and Turkey’s combined base oils imports of 287,260t from Russia in the first eleven months of the year were up from 258,670t during the same period the previous year.That dynamic is set to change early this year with the cessation of Russian base oils shipments to Europe.The move is set to complicate Europe’s supply of Group I base oils. It is also likely to complicate Russian base oils producers’ ability to sustain steady export volumes..Turkey’s Nov Group I imports steady
