Turkey’s Sept Group I imports stay low

Turkey’s Group I base oils imports stayed lower than usual in September as falling regional base oils prices added to buyers’ preference to hold back.

The lower import volumes complicated moves to clear surplus Group I supplies in Europe.

Turkey's rising share of imports of Russian origin added to the need for European shipments to target other markets instead.

Group I base oils imports of 20,990t in September rose from a ten-month low of 19,440t in August, government data showed. The September volume was the second lowest in 11 months.

Turkey’s Group I base oils imports rose 10pc in the first nine months of the year even as domestic demand held steady.

The rise in shipments balanced out a 29pc drop in the country’s domestic base oils output in the first eight months of the year.

Base oils imports rose even as shipments from Europe fell to 135,600t in the first nine months of the year, or 62pc of the total.

The volume was down from 141,480t during the same period last year, or 71pc of the total.

The lower share of imports from Europe partly reflected the unusual but increasingly frequent flow of supplies from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.

Imports from the Mideast Gulf country rose to a record-high 3,230t in September.

Before February, Turkey had imported just two cargoes from Saudi Arabia over a period of more than a decade.

Europe’s lower share of supplies reflected more the sustained rise in shipments from Russia.

Imports of 52,740t from Russia in the first nine months of the year were up from 38,940t during the same period last year.

The higher imports contrasted with a sharp fall in European base oils shipments from Russia in recent months.

The sustained flow of shipments boosted their share of Turkey’s imports to 24pc of the total so far this year, up from less than 20pc last year.

The rise in shipments from other sources helped to cover for Europe’s tight base oils supplies during the first half of the year.

Those shipments have continued through the second half of the year.

This time the shipments cut demand for supplies from Europe at a time when surplus availability had risen and the arbitrage to other outlets was hard to work.