Japan’s base oils and lube output rose for a ninth month in December, lifting production in 2022 to a nine-year high.High output levels last year triggered a surge in base oils exports, especially to southeast Asia.The country's output and exports are likely to fall this year because of lower production capacity and a heavier round of plant maintenance.Last year’s round of plant maintenance work was unusually light. The scheduled closure of another base oils plant in Japan later this year will compound the impact of the wave of plant maintenance work.The slowdown in output already began during the final months of 2022.Base oils and lube output of 216,470 kilolitres (191,750t) in December was almost the same as the previous month and up 49pc from year-earlier levels, government data showed..The rise in production lifted total output to 2.54mn kl in 2022. The volume rose more than 25pc from 2.01mn kl the previous year to the highest since 2013.But output of 624,230kl in the final three months of the year fell from 666,550kl in the third quarter and from more than 714,000kl in the second quarter of the year.The country’s base oils exports showed a similar trend, with shipments peaking in the second quarter of the year..Japan's Dec base oils exports improve.Last year’s surge in base oils production and exports far exceeded corresponding levels in 2020 and 2021.The recovery in supplies contrasted with Singapore, whose base oils exports in 2022 remained lower than shipment levels in and especially before 2020.Japan and Singapore's diverging trends cushioned the drop in their combined exports. The two countries' total shipments in 2022 was less than 3pc below 2020 levels.To maintain the same or higher export levels, the upcoming drop in supplies from Japan over the coming months could prompt a reciprocal rise in shipments from Singapore.Without such a move, supplies were set to fall at the same time as an expected recovery in Chinese demand over the coming months along with firm consumption in southeast Asia..Singapore’s Dec base oils exports fall.Base Oil News stories and analysis also available on ICIS platform
