India’s Group II base oils imports stayed unusually high in August even as the country’s total imports fell.
Group II imports of close to 110,000t in August were similar to July and the second-highest in eighteen months, provisional customs data showed.
Imports rose by 25pc and for the fourth time in five months from year-earlier levels.
Group II base oil imports got a boost from a rise in shipments from Asia and the Mideast Gulf. The supplies countered a slowdown in shipments from the US.
Imports of heavy-grade base oils extended their rise in August to a one-year high amid higher flows from South Korea especially.
Imports of light grades edged down in August from the previous month amid a drop in supplies from the US and Asia.
The volume was still the second-highest in thirteen months amid a pick-up in flows from the Mideast Gulf.
