Europe’s rising Group II base oils supply in June cushioned the impact of lower Group I and Group III volumes and boosted its share of the region’s total supply to a record high.Premium-grade supplies from the Netherlands and the US came to more than 185,000t in June, government data showed. The volume was up from less than 128,000t in May.Group I base oils supply came to less than 86,000t in June, down from close to 147,000t in May. The volume was derived from five key suppliers in Europe combined with imports from Russia.Group III base oils supply slipped to less than 135,000t in June, from more than 140,000t the previous month.The diverging volumes left Group II base oils with around 45pc of total supply in June. The share was up from more typical monthly levels of around 32pc since the beginning of 2022.Group I base oils’ share of supply fell to a record-low of less than 25pc of the total. The share was down from levels closer to 35pc since the start of 2022.Group III base oils share of supply was relatively steady at more than 32pc of the total.Europe’s Group I base oils prices strengthened relative to Group II and Group III prices during the second quarter of the year, ICIS data showed.The firmer prices mirrored the tighter Group I supply dynamics relative to the other grades..Europe’s June Group I supply falls .Base Oil News stories and analysis also available on ICIS platform
