Italy’s February base oils output falls

Italy’s base oils production fell in February to its lowest in almost three years, adding to a squeeze on regional supply of the lubricant feedstock.

Output fell to 37,200t in February, down more than 20pc from an already-low 47,620t the previous month, government data showed.

The volume was the lowest since March 2019, when a prolonged round of scheduled plant maintenance was taking place.

Italy’s base oils production had averaged more typical levels of more than 91,000 t/month in the first ten months of last year.

Output then fell sharply from November, when some plant maintenance work began. Damage caused by a fire during the maintenance work prolonged the shutdown. It had been scheduled to be completed in December. But the plant is still offline.

The drop in base oil supply from Italy has compounded the European market’s increasingly tight availability of Group I base oils.

The option of using alternative Group I supplies of Russian origin is increasingly hard amid a showdown in shipments from that market.