Saudi Arabia’s Feb Yanbu/Jeddah exports rise

Base oils shipments from the Saudi Arabian ports of Yanbu and Jeddah rose to a four-month high in February, with most of the supplies moving to the Mideast Gulf or India.

The flows to the Mideast Gulf coincided with an unusually large shipment of Group II base oils from Asia-Pacific to the region during the first two months of the year.

More supplies from Asia-Pacific were bound for the region in March.

A large volume of Group I base oils of European origin also moved to the Mideast Gulf region during the first few months of the year.

There was less prospect of a continuation of those shipments as an expected seasonal rise in lube demand in Europe cut surplus supply available for export.

The additional shipments from Asia and Europe helped to cover for a drop in supplies of Iranian origin that tightened availability of heavy-grade base oils especially.

Base oils shipments from the ports of Yanbu and Jeddah combined rose to more than 55,000t in February, shipping data showed.

The volume rose from less than 45,000t the previous month to the highest since October.

The rise in exports from various markets to the Mideast Gulf contrasted with a slowdown in their shipments to India.

South Korea’s base oils exports to India fell in February to their lowest in almost three years.

India’s imports from Saudi Arabia also fell in February, especially for very-light grade base oils.

A large volume of Saudi Arabia’s January shipments moved to other markets like Egypt, East Africa and southeast Asia.

There was a pause in shipments to those markets in February.