India’s base oil imports recovered in February after slumping the previous month on the back of a pick-up in shipments from the US and Mideast Gulf especially.Total imports of 369,620t in February rose from 260,250t the previous month, customs data showed. The January volume had been the lowest since mid-2020. That period was during the first round of lockdowns in India to thwart the spread of the Covid-19 virus..Indian base oil imports had been unusually high throughout most of 2021 amid persistently strong demand for very-light grade base oils. The buying interest had coincided with increasingly high retail fuel prices in India.Buyers also preferred to maintain higher base oil inventories following the unexpectedly tight availability of supplies in second-half 2020 and first-half 2021. Availability then improved markedly during the second half of last year.Imports in January got a boost from a surge in shipments from the US. .These climbed to a 13-month high of more than 40,000t.The volume was up from average import levels of less than 20,000 t/month from the US during the 11 months to December..The US supplies got a boost from a large volume of spot shipments in addition to term volumes. Lower prices from late last year made feasible the arbitrage for those spot shipments to move to India..US’ Jan base oil exports to India surge
