Base oils shipments to some of southeast Asia’s largest economies rose in May for the first time in three months amid signs that a slowdown in lube consumption in the region may be bottoming out.Base oils shipments to Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines combined rose to more than 105,000t in May, government and customs data showed.The volume rose from around 92,000t the previous month and by 2pc from year-earlier levels.Even with the recovery, total imports of 492,600t in the first five months of the year remained down 6pc from 526,330t during the same period last year.The volume was similar to levels around 492,730t during the same period in 2021.A pick-up in demand in southeast Asia would help to cushion the impact of China’s weaker-than-expected recovery so far this year..Indonesia’s May base oils imports rise
