UK’s Feb base oil imports hold steady

UK base oil imports were rangebound in February as firmer shipment volumes from the Netherlands countered a slowdown in supplies from US and Russia.

Total base oil imports of 29,280t in February edged down from 31,160t the previous month, government data showed.

Imports have mostly held in a 28,000-31,000 t/month range for most of the past nine months.

Supplies from overseas markets showed signs of steadying after falling in each of the last three years to 2021. The slowdown in shipments coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

While import volumes have remained relatively steady, the composition of the supplies has changed.

Imports from the Netherlands held above 7,000t in February for a second month. Those were the highest levels since late 2019 and up from more typical levels of less than 4,000 t/month in 2021.

Imports from Belgium held below 10,000t in February for a fourth month in five. They had held above that level in seven of the previous eight months to last September.

Both of those countries are key storage and distribution hubs for base oil supplies in the European market. The Netherlands is also a major producer of Group II base oils.

Imports from Russia and Latvia combined came to more than 11,000t in the first two months of the year.

The volume amounted to more than half the total of 20,720t of supplies that the UK imported from those two markets in 2021.

The 2021 volume was down from more than 44,000t the previous year and more than 61,000t in 2019.