Base oil shipments rise from Spain's Cartagena

Exports of premium-grade base oils from the Spanish port of Cartagena rose in March to their second-highest level in six months amid a pick-up in shipments to the Netherlands.

More than 45,000t of shipments set sail from Cartagena in March, Porth Authority of Cartagena (PAC) data showed.

The volume was up from less than 35,000t in February and from more typical levels of close to 40,000 t/month in the year to March.

Spain is home to several Group I base oil plants and a major Group III base oil unit.

The country’s base oil exports have risen sharply in recent years amid rising production capacity within the country and the region.

Exports of these supplies from Cartagena had fallen in first-half 2021 to their lowest level in more than three years.

The drop in supplies coincided with unusually tight availability of Group I and Group III base oils in Europe during that period. Base oil prices surged in response to the tightness.

Exports rebounded in second-half 2021, with that trend extending into the first quarter of this year.