India Feb heavy-grade base oils imports rise

India’s imports of Group I and Group II heavy-grade base oils rose to a multi-year high in February even as the country’s total imports fell.

Imports of Group I and Group II heavy-grade base oils combined rose to more than 75,000 tonnes in February, provisional customs data showed.

Imports rose from an already-high volume of more than 70,000 tonnes in January to the highest in at least four years.

The January volume was the third-highest during that time.

The more-than-40% rise in imports in February from year-earlier levels also contrasted with a 1% fall in India’s total base oils imports that month.

The surge in heavy-grade shipments boosted blenders’ stocks during a round of domestic plant maintenance work and ahead of a typical surge in lube demand in the month of March.

The rise in imports pointed to sufficient regional availability of heavy-grade supplies, especially when blenders supplemented Group II shipments with a swathe of Group I cargoes.

The increasingly steep discount of Group I base oils prices to Group II heavy grades added to the attraction of procuring more of those supplies.

The discount of CFR India Group I SN 500 to Group II N500 prices widened to more than $75/tonne in February, from less than $10/tonne as recently as last September.

A large portion of the Group I supplies were at an even steeper discount, the customs data showed.

The lower prices coincided with a surge in imports of the Group I supplies that far outpaced the rise in Group II heavy-grade shipments.

Group II heavy-grade imports’ dwindling share of India's total heavy-grade shipments reflected that trend.

Group II heavy grades accounted for less than 75% of the country’s total heavy-grade imports for a second month in February.

The share fell from close to 80% in 2024 and more than 85% in 2023.

The surge in India’s heavy-grade base oils imports curbed buyers’ urgency to secure additional volumes.

The surge in Group I heavy-grade imports similarly curbed their need to accept Group II heavy-grade prices that they deemed to be too high.

India’s imported Group II heavy-grade cargo prices showed signs of reflecting growing push-back from buyers.

The premium of CFR India Group II heavy grades over FOB Asia cargo prices narrowed to less than $10/tonne in March.

The premium fell from an already-low $20/tonne at the beginning of the year and from more than $60/tonne in March 2024.