Base oils shipments from Saudi Arabia’s ports of Yanbu and Jeddah stayed higher than usual in June even as they slipped from the previous month.Total shipments of more than 70,000 tonnes in June from Yanbu and Jeddah combined fell from more than 85,000 tonnes the previous month, provisional shipping data showed.The May volume was the highest this year. The June volume was the second highest.The lower June volume reflected a dip in shipments from Yanbu that countered a rise in cargoes from Jeddah.The firm volumes from Saudi Arabia in June contrasted with a sharp slowdown in shipments from key refiners in Asia that included a fall in flows to India and the Middle East.Shipments from Yanbu and Jeddah held firm to those markets.The supplies could help to top up buyers’ stocks in the Middle East especially, delaying any moves to seek replenish inventories with shipments from Asia.The June shipments from Saudi Arabia included a pick-up in flows to Europe for a second month.The rise in supplies contrasted with its more sporadic shipments to Europe over the previous year to April.The rise in supplies could reflect moves to tap Europe’s shrinking structural supply of Group I base oils and its still-firm demand for the product.The firm supply-demand fundamentals supported increasingly strong Group I base oils prices in Europe relative to other base oils grades and relative to other regions.A more regular flow of shipments to Europe would help to diversify Saudi Arabia’s key markets ahead of the startup of a swathe of new base oils production capacity in India in the coming years.India’s requirements for base oils supplies from overseas markets are likely to fall as its own domestic supply rises..Global premium-grade imports from Mideast Gulf fall in May
