Asia’s base oils supply held steady in November even with ongoing plant maintenance work in Taiwan and the closure of a plant in Japan in October.The steady supply highlighted the region’s plentiful production capacity and contrasted with a sharp fall in its base oils exports in November.The contrasting trends pointed either to a pick-up in consumption or to a rise in stocks in domestic markets.Base oils output of more than 890,000t in November was similar to the previous two months and down from typical levels of close to 930,000 t/month over the past year.Output likely rose closer to those average levels in December, when a Group II base oil unit in Taiwan was scheduled to resume operations after a shutdown that began in early October.Higher output would add to the need for a rise in exports to limit a regional supply-build at a time of year when demand typically slows.Base oils output of 10.23mn t in the first eleven months of the year was almost the same as year-earlier levels.Including China, Asia’s base oils output of around 14.25mn t in the first eleven months of the year edged up from 14.22mn t during the same period a year earlier..Asia’s November base oils exports fall
