Asia’s base oils exports to the Middle East rose to a thirty-one-month high in September amid a simultaneous surge in shipments from multiple sources.The rise in shipments highlighted the recovery in Asia’s base oils supply during the third quarter of the year.It also highlighted the importance and value of the Middle East market as an outlet for those supplies.But the logistical constraints of that market cut the prospect of any immediate extension of such large shipment volumes to the region in the fourth quarter of the year.Any slowdown in demand could have repercussions for refiners in Asia as well as in US and Europe at a time of year when a seasonal slowdown in consumption usually triggers a rise in surplus supply.Asia’s base oils exports to the Middle East rose to more than 50,000 tonnes in September, government data showed..The volume rose from less than 20,000 tonnes the previous month to the highest since early-2023.Asia’s base oils exports to the Middle East typically rise because of a pick-up in shipments from South Korea.That scenario duly occurred in September..Exports got a further boost from another cargo from Taiwan, as well as a rise in shipments from Singapore to a multi-year high.A rare and unusually large shipment from China added further to the pick-up in exports.The shipments from Taiwan and China likely reflected moves to tap the increasingly wide gap between Group I and Group II prices in the Middle East and in Asia.Those arbitrage shipments could complicate the line-up of any spot cargoes from Europe or the US to the Middle East.The build-up of supplies in the region could also complicate buying interest in additional volumes from Asia.Any such slowdown in demand would follow the recent start-up of a new base oils unit in Singapore and coincide with a lighter round of plant-maintenance work in Asia during the final months of the year..S Korea September exports to India rise.Global exports to Mideast Gulf fall in August.Base Oil News stories and analysis also available on ICIS platform
