Turkey’s May Group I supplies from Europe stay competitive

Turkey’s costs for Group I base oils supplies from key European suppliers like Greece and Italy remained competitive in May versus costs for shipments of Russian origin.

The average cost of Group I supplies of Italian origin rose to more than $1,030/t in May, up from less than $970/t the previous month.

The average cost of Group I base oils from Russia rose to around $930/t, up from around $890/t in April.

The premium of Italian supplies over shipments from Russia rose to more than $100/t in response.

The premium was the highest in three months but well below levels of close to $500/t at end-2022.

The premium remained small enough to incentivize buyers to continue to procure more supplies from Europe rather than from Russia.