Italy’s Sept base oils output rises

Italy’s base oils output rose to a four-month high in September amid signs of a gradual restart of one of the country’s Group I base oils plants.

Output of 57,200t in September rose from less than 50,000t in each of the previous three months, government data showed.

Output had averaged more than 74,000 t/month in the first four months of the year.

Even with the higher volumes in September, output of 151,600t in the third quarter fell from more than 168,000t during the previous three months to the lowest since the first quarter of 2022.

Italy's monthly base oils output fell from May onwards because of the shutdown of a Group I plant for maintenance work.

The shutdown was extended several times before a gradual restart of the plant from the end of the third quarter.

The drop in output added to a sustained slide in Europe’s Group I base oils supplies in the second and third quarters of the year.