June base oil imports from Qatar fall

The delivery of base oils from Qatar to key outlets in Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific fell in June to a three-month low.

Key markets like US, Europe and Singapore took delivery of more than 130,000t of base oils from Qatar in June, government and customs data showed.

The volume was down from more than 138,000t the previous month.

Even with the lower volume, supplies of around 460,000t in the second quarter of the year were up from close to 420,000t in the first three months of the year.

Shipments of more than 880,000t in the first half of the year were still down more than 130,000t from 1.02mn t during the same period last year.

The drop in supplies was relative.

The shipments in first-half 2021 were a record high and up from more typical volumes of less than 400,000t per quarter. The shipments in first-half 2022 remained well above that level.

The high volume in first-half 2021 coincided with an unusually heavy round of overlapping Group III plant maintenance work during that period.

The lower volume this year coincided with a much lighter round of plant maintenance work.

The lower volumes masked a marked change in flows to different markets.

US imports of more than 237,000t from Qatar in the first half of the year were almost the same as year-earlier levels.

Hong Kong’s base oils imports of more than 180,000t from Qatar in the first half were down more than 30pc from more than 270,000t during the same period a year earlier.

The disconnect coincided with strong US demand for Group III base oils and a sustained slowdown in China's lubricants consumption.