Turkey's Apr Grp I imports rangebound

Turkey’s Group I base oil imports held steady in April as buyers maintained a reliance on overseas supplies even as availability tightened and prices surged.

Base oil imports of 25,600t in April fell from 29,700t the previous month and by 15pc from year-earlier levels, government data showed.

The lowest import volume so far this year was 23,800t in February.

This year’s imports have also held steady versus year-earlier levels. Import volumes of 105,480t in the first four months of the year were up only slight from 102,940t during the same period last year.

Surging prices and tight supplies for overseas cargoes have boosted the attraction of procuring more supplies from Turkey’s domestic producer.

But the refiner’s intermittent production in recent months has instead sustained steady interest in overseas shipments.

The steady demand has soaked up a large share of export volumes from key sources in the Mediterranean market.

Surplus supply has tightened further in response at a time when regional buyers have been seeking alternative cargoes in place of shipments of Russian origin.

Turkey’s base oil imports of 9,170t from Greece in April were down from 11,840t the previous month. Even so, the country remained the largest destination for shipments from Greece.

Base oil imports of 9,650t from Italy were the highest from that market in 11 months.

Turkey’s base oil imports from Russia in April fell by more than half from March to a five-month low of 2,520t.