India’s November base oils imports fall

India’s base oils imports fell in November to the second lowest in the last 29 months amid tighter regional supply and firmer demand in China.

Imports of less than 260,000t in November fell from more than 280,000t the previous month, provisional customs data showed.

Imports had fallen even lower in September. Except for that month, the November volume was the lowest since first-half 2020.

The slide in shipments for five straight months cut India’s total imports to 3.47mn t in the first eleven months of the year. The volume was down 17pc from 4.18mn t during the same period last year.

Imports fell as availability in Asia-Pacific tightened.

Base oils supply in the region fell to a seventeen-month low in October amid plant maintenance work and run cuts. Base oils exports from the region fell to a fourteen-month low.

The lower production and exports contrasted with a surge in shipments from Asia-Pacific in September. Refiners cut prices sharply to attract buyers and clear a large surplus.

Tighter supply in October gave them more leverage to maintain the prices that they were targeting and to resist bids that they deemed to be too low.

Indian buyers were less willing to accept price offers that they deemed to be uncompetitive compared with supplies from domestic producers.

Firmer demand in China also trimmed the flow of supplies to India.

Higher domestic prices and stronger demand triggered a rise in shipments to China from Taiwan especially.

India had taken delivery of large volumes of supplies from Taiwan in recent months in response to persistently weak Chinese demand.

India’s base oils imports from China itself also fell in November amid tighter supply and firmer demand.

India’s imports instead got support from a rise in shipments from the US to a five-month high of more than 16,000t. An unusually large portion of the supplies consisted of Group II mid-viscosity grades.