Base oils shipments from the Saudi Arabian ports of Yanbu and Jeddah fell to a one-year low in July, compounding a slowdown in flows to India from other key sources.Total shipments from the two ports combined fell to less than 40,000 tonnes in July, from more than 60,000 tonnes the previous month, preliminary shipping data showed..Exports from the two ports showed signs of improving in August. But they remained below typical volumes of more than 55,000 tonnes/month in the first half of the year.The lower volumes in July and August come after Luberef earlier this month trimmed its projected base oils production volume for 2025 to 1.05 million tonnes.Its previous forecast was 1.20 million tonnes.It lowered the forecast production level following two unplanned plant shutdowns during the second quarter of the year.Luberef mitigated an issue impacting the Yanbu unit. But the issue will continue until November, when a major shutdown of the plant is scheduled to take place..The drop in shipments from Yanbu and Jeddah in July showed signs of impacting exports to India especially.The country’s base oils imports of around 18,000 tonnes from Saudi Arabia in July were the lowest in thirteen months.Its imports from Saudi Arabia typically exceeded 27,000 tonnes/month over the past year.The drop in shipments to India coincided with a slowdown in flows from Iran and a subsequent rise in India’s demand for Group I heavy-neutrals from other sources instead.It also coincided with a sharp fall in exports from Asia to India in July and raised the prospect of adding to a slowdown in India’s base oils imports in the month of August.Base oils shipments from Yanbu and Jeddah could stay lower than usual over the coming months ahead of and during the planned plant-shutdown of the Yanbu unit from mid-November.Besides the current expansion of the Yanbu plant, Luberef is also in the early stages of evaluating several locations for a prospective Group III+ base oils facility..Global base oils exports to Middle East rise in July .India’s July base oils imports rise.Saudi Arabia’s June Yanbu/Jeddah base oils exports rise.Base Oil News stories and analysis also available on ICIS platform
