Korea Feb base oil exports to Americas fall

South Korea’s base oil exports to the Americas market slumped in February as shipments focused more on outlets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Total exports to markets like the US, Brazil and Argentina fell to 49,660t in February, down from 78,570t the previous month, government data showed. The February volume was the lowest since last May.

Exports to the US fell in February to a nine-month low of 46,120t, from 66,320t the previous month.

Exports fell despite US Group III prices holding at unusually high levels relative to prices in other markets. South Korea is a key source of Group III base oil supplies for the US market.

Base exports to Latin American markets fell to just 3,540t in February, down from more than 12,000t the previous month. There were no shipments to Peru for the first time in 19 months.

By contrast, the supplies bound for Argentina were the first to that market in 21 months. The volume, at 3,500t, was the largest in more than three years.

Export volumes from South Korea to Argentina are rare and typically come to less than 100 t/month when there are any shipments.

The slowdown in shipments to the Americas partly reflected a drop in South Korea’s total base oil exports during the first two months of the year.

It also coincided with a large overhang of surplus supplies in the US market at the start of the year.