India’s April base oil imports fall

India’s base oil imports fell in April to their second-lowest level in 10 months amid a slowdown in shipments from all the country’s regular sources of supply.

Only an ongoing surge in arbitrage shipments from the US prevented an even steeper drop in imports.

Total imports of 335,680t in April fell by 23pc from 438,180t the previous month, provisional customs data showed. The volume was down 19pc from year-earlier levels.

Imports of 1.46mn to in the first four months of the year were down 5pc from 1.53mn t during the same period last year.

Imports fell at a time of year when lube consumption in India typically slows at the start of the new financial year.

Surging base oil prices added to a reluctance to procure more supplies. Some buyers instead sought to cover more of their requirements with supplies from domestic producers.

Overseas producers were more inclined to target markets such as southeast Asia where demand and prices remained firmer.

The outlier was supplies from the US. Imports of more than 50,000t of base oils from that market in April was the highest in more than a year.

The volumes and prices for those shipments had been fixed several months earlier.

The flow of supplies from the US is likely to fall sharply over the coming months following the clear-out of surplus volumes from late last year and early this year.