Singapore’s Oct base oils exports fall

Singapore’s base oils exports fell in October to a 16-month low amid a slump in shipments from domestic sources.

The sharp drop in shipments was the latest in a wave of lower exports from key producers in Asia-Pacific.

The drop in regional supplies followed a surge in Asia-Pacific base oils exports in September. The shipments included a large volume of spot and arbitrage cargoes.

Regional base oils prices fell sharply in July and August as producers lined up outlets for the surplus supplies.

The removal of the shipments balanced out producers’ supply-position heading into the fourth quarter and coincided with signs of lower base oils production in several markets.

Regional prices were steadier from September, reflecting the more balanced fundamentals.

Singapore’s base oils exports showed signs of recovering in November. Shipments rose in the week to mid-November to the highest since September.

The island-state’s base oils exports of 126,980t in October fell from 155,030t the previous month and by 7pc from year-earlier levels, government data showed.

The volume was the lowest since June 2021.

The drop in shipments for a second month cut total exports to 1.62mn t in the first ten months of the year.

The volume was still up 7pc from 1.51mn t during the same period a year earlier. But the size of the increase slowed from a 13pc rise in the first eight months of the year.  

Shipments fell because of a slump in exports from domestic sources. These volumes consistently held at lower-than-usual levels for six weeks to early November.

Such a dip in exports from domestic sources had previously been more sporadic and lasted a shorter time.

A more prolonged slowdown like this had previously taken place because of factors such as plant maintenance work or run-cuts.

Exports from domestic sources bottomed out in early November and revived steadily since then.