Taiwan’s base oils exports fell to a two-year low in October because of scheduled maintenance on its sole base oils unit.Base oils exports of 6,600t in October fell from more than 41,000t the previous month and from close to 54,000t in August, government data showed.The August and September volumes were higher than usual. The October volume was the lowest since September 2021.Taiwan’s sole Group II base oils plant began scheduled maintenance work in October. It was set to resume normal operations in December.Extended plant maintenance work in the third quarter of 2021 was also the cause of a slump in base oils exports at that time.The size of the drop in exports in October pointed to the refiner’s moves to boost shipments and buyers’ stocks rather than its own stocks ahead of the shutdown.Base oils exports to China fell to close to 3,000t in October, from 12,800t the previous month and from close to 32,000t in August..Taiwan’s Sept base oil exports hold firm.Base Oil News stories and analysis also available on ICIS platform
