South Korea’s base oils exports to the Americas fell in April to the lowest in almost four years as weaker US demand compounded the impact of lower supply in the northeast Asian country.Total base oils exports of 19,500 tonnes to the US in April fell from an already-low 34,300 tonnes the previous month, government data showed.The volume fell by 58% and for a fourth straight month from year-earlier levels to the lowest since May 2020.Exports almost ground to a halt at that time, when pandemic-related lockdown measures slashed US demand.The fall in exports this time partly reflected the impact of maintenance work on a major Group III base oils unit in South Korea.The impact of the subsequent drop in supplies showed signs of being larger for shipments to the US than to other markets.The sharper fall in shipments to the US coincided with a rise in that country’s domestic Group III base oils production and a relatively muted seasonal pick-up in domestic lube demand.US Group III base oils prices already reflected the increasingly weaker supply-demand fundamentals for the product over the past year, ICIS data showed.The premium of US Group III 4cSt base oils over Group II N100/120 base oils narrowed from more than $830/tonne this time a year ago to less than $550/tonne by the start of this year.The price-weakness gathered pace from early April when outright US Group III prices slumped.The price-drop cut the Group III premium to Group II prices to less than $260/tonne by the start of this month.It also pushed US Group III prices to a steep discount to Europe Group III prices.The new price dynamic boosted the incentive for overseas refiners in markets like South Korea to target Europe with more supplies.South Korea’s base oils exports to Europe held steadier at 20,400 tonnes in April.The volume was down just 300 tonnes from the previous month..S Korea’s April base oils exports fall.US’ March base oils imports fall
