Turkey’s Dec premium-grade imports rise

Turkey’s imports of premium-grade base oils climbed to a record-high in December amid a rise in shipments from the Netherlands and Qatar.

The rise in shipments of premium grades throughout the year contrasted with falling supplies of Group I base oils.

Premium-grade base oils accounted for a record share of Turkey’s total base oils supply in response.

Like Group I base oils, imports from Russia accounted a growing share of Turkey’s premium-grade supplies.

Unlike Group I base oils, the share remained low.

The trend reflected Russia’s structural oversupply of Group I base oils and need to clear the surplus through overseas markets.

The country is by contrast structurally short of premium-grade base oils.

Domestic blenders’ requirements to use base oils with OEM approvals also restricted their ability to switch to alternative sources such as Russia even when prices were more competitive.

The more muted rise in Russian premium-grade shipments to Turkey last year in turn limited their impact on the European market.

The surge in Group I shipments from Russia to Turkey had a larger impact by curbing domestic buyers’ demand for Group I supplies from Europe.

Turkey’s premium-grade base oils imports of more than 29,000t in December rebounded from less than 20,000t the previous month to a record high.

Imports of more than 286,000t in 2022 rose by 23pc from 232,500t the previous year.

The increase in supplies outpaced the 7pc rise in Turkey’s Group I base oils imports in 2022.

The rise in supplies also contrasted with an 8pc fall in Turkey’s total Group I base oils supply in the first eleven months of the year. The slowdown reflected the slump in the country’s domestic base oils output.

The rise in premium-grade imports boosted their share of Turkey’s total base oils supply to 43pc of the total in the first eleven months of the year.

The share was up from 36pc during the same period a year earlier.

The trend reflected blenders’ growing need for higher-quality base oils to meet increasingly stringent lubricant specification requirements.

It also suggested that Turkey’s ability to absorb more Group I base oils from Russia could face limitations because of the structural fall in consumption of Group I supplies.