UK’s March base oil imports rise

The UK’s base oil imports rose in March to a five-month high on the back of a rise in shipments from Belgium and the US.

The rise in supplies contrasted with a slide in the country’s base oil exports in March to a six-month low.

The disconnect boosted net imports to their highest in almost two years. It pointed to a larger-than-usual round of stock-building at a time when regional availability of surplus supply was increasingly tight.

Base oil imports of 38,240t in March rose from 29,280t the previous month and by 10pc from year-earlier levels to their highest since last October, government data showed.

Supplies got a boost from the delivery of some 4,330t of base oils from the US. The shipment extended a sharp pick-up in imports from that country since December.

Imports of 17,120t from the US in the four months to March contrasted with total deliveries of less than 7,500t from the US during the two years to November 2021.

The change in flows coincided with a further tightening of the EU’s import quota on Group II base oils from the start of this year.

Base oil imports of 4,150t in March from Russia and Latvia combined were steady from the previous month.

Total imports of 15,530t from those two sources in the first three months of the year were the highest quarterly volume since the first quarter of 2020.