Asia-Pacific base oils exports rose to a four-month high in January on the back of a rebound in shipments from South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.The recovery in exports followed the scrapping of China’s zero-Covid policy in December and signs of tighter surplus supply at the end of last year.The tighter supply in the fourth quarter of last year curbed arbitrage flows to markets like Latin America.More balanced fundamentals also supported firmer regional base oils prices relative to crude and diesel.But Chinese demand remained muted in January as blenders held off replenishing stocks until after the lunar new year holidays.More Asia-Pacific base oils shipments instead moved to other regions like southeast Asia, India and Mideast Gulf..Taiwan Jan exports rise to India, SE Asia.Rising supply gave buyers in those regions the opportunity to replenish stocks.The pick-up in supply also curbed sellers’ leverage to raise prices, squeezing margins.The strength of China’s pick-up in demand for overseas supplies was likely have a major impact on the availability of surplus cargoes in the region over the coming months.China's pick-up in demand improved in February. But it remained relatively low compared with previous years.Asia-Pacific base oils exports showed signs of staying relatively high in February.The region's base oils exports of almost 680,000t in January rose from less than 575,000t the previous month, government data showed..The December volume had been the lowest since first-half 2020, reflecting the impact of run-cuts and maintenance work.The January volume was the highest since last September, when producers cleared a swathe of surplus supplies from the region.A round of plant maintenance work in southeast and northeast Asia over the coming months was likely to curb base oils exports from markets like Singapore, Indonesia and Japan.Plant maintenance work in China was also likely to boost demand for additional supplies from other sources.The maintenance work and seasonal rise in demand was likely to curb the volume of surplus base oils supplies for more distant markets over next few months.The surplus could then rise following the completion of the maintenance work and if China’s pick-up in demand remains muted..China’s February base oils output falls
Asia-Pacific base oils exports rose to a four-month high in January on the back of a rebound in shipments from South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.The recovery in exports followed the scrapping of China’s zero-Covid policy in December and signs of tighter surplus supply at the end of last year.The tighter supply in the fourth quarter of last year curbed arbitrage flows to markets like Latin America.More balanced fundamentals also supported firmer regional base oils prices relative to crude and diesel.But Chinese demand remained muted in January as blenders held off replenishing stocks until after the lunar new year holidays.More Asia-Pacific base oils shipments instead moved to other regions like southeast Asia, India and Mideast Gulf..Taiwan Jan exports rise to India, SE Asia.Rising supply gave buyers in those regions the opportunity to replenish stocks.The pick-up in supply also curbed sellers’ leverage to raise prices, squeezing margins.The strength of China’s pick-up in demand for overseas supplies was likely have a major impact on the availability of surplus cargoes in the region over the coming months.China's pick-up in demand improved in February. But it remained relatively low compared with previous years.Asia-Pacific base oils exports showed signs of staying relatively high in February.The region's base oils exports of almost 680,000t in January rose from less than 575,000t the previous month, government data showed..The December volume had been the lowest since first-half 2020, reflecting the impact of run-cuts and maintenance work.The January volume was the highest since last September, when producers cleared a swathe of surplus supplies from the region.A round of plant maintenance work in southeast and northeast Asia over the coming months was likely to curb base oils exports from markets like Singapore, Indonesia and Japan.Plant maintenance work in China was also likely to boost demand for additional supplies from other sources.The maintenance work and seasonal rise in demand was likely to curb the volume of surplus base oils supplies for more distant markets over next few months.The surplus could then rise following the completion of the maintenance work and if China’s pick-up in demand remains muted..China’s February base oils output falls
