Global base oils exports to the Middle East likely stayed lower in April for a second month amid an ongoing slowdown in supplies from Asia.Asia typically accounts for more than half the total shipments to the region.Imports of little more than 18,000 tonnes from Asia to the Middle East in April held below the 20,000-tonne level for a second month, government data showed.The volume was down from typical levels of more than 28,000 tonnes/month in 2024.The dip in shipments reflected the tighter availability of surplus supplies in Asia early this year because of firm demand and a heavy round of plant maintenance.Plant maintenance in the US and Europe and a seasonal rise in demand curbed the prospect of surplus flows from those markets balancing out the dip in supplies from Asia.Those tighter supply-demand fundamentals already triggered a dip in total exports to the Middle East from those three markets to 32,000 tonnes in March.The volume fell by 57% and for a third month from year-earlier levels.The drop in supplies left total exports of less than 120,000 tonnes to the Middle East in the first quarter of the year down from almost 190,000 tonnes during the same period last year..The slump in shipments this year highlighted the tighter surplus supply in Europe and Asia especially.The drop in supplies also curbed the opportunity for buyers in the Middle East to replenish stocks at competitive price levels in the same way as last year.Buyers’ base oils stocks likely stayed lower in the second quarter of the year because of the ongoing dip in shipments from markets like Asia as well as plant maintenance work in the Middle East.Buyers’ lower inventories raised the prospect of a pick-up in demand in the coming months.Any such pick-up in demand would coincide with a likely rise in surplus supplies in Asia especially as plant-maintenance draws to a close and demand faces a seasonal slowdown.A rise in surplus supplies would prompt refiners to clear those volumes in overseas markets like the Middle East..US' March base oils exports stay high.S Korea April exports to India stay high
