Asia’s Nov base oils supply holds steady

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.