Thailand’s base oils supply fell to an eleven-month low in January amid a dip in domestic Group I base oils output.The lower output added to a drop in Group I base oils production in the Asia-Pacific region at the start of the year.It also coincided with a seasonal slowdown in demand, lower Group I base oils margins and signs of a rise in surplus supply at the end of last year.The weaker fundamentals and lower margins at the start of the year boosted the attraction of trimming run rates or making other adjustments to production during that time.Thailand’s Group I base oils output of 46,100 kilolitres (41,000 tonnes) in January fell from more than 57,000 kilolitres in each of the previous three months, government data showed..The volume was the lowest since February 2024, when maintenance work impacted output at both of Thailand’s base oils plants at the start of last year.The drop in output in January affected just one of the refineries, whose base oils exports typically account for the larger share of its production.The drop in output in January coincided with maintenance work on a Group I unit in Indonesia and persistently-low base oils output in Japan.Even with the drop in supply, Asia’s Group I base oils price premium to Singapore gasoil prices slumped in January before recovering.But the recovery barely kept pace with the rise in Group II base oils values, which maintained an increasingly steep premium to Group I base oils prices.The relative price weakness of Group I light and heavy neutrals suggested that supply-demand fundamentals remained weak even with the drop in availability in January.The drop in output in January followed a rise in Thailand’s surplus base oils supply in the fourth quarter of 2024 to its highest level in at least three years.A pick-up in Thailand’s base oils exports to India late last year and early this year followed a pause in such shipments throughout most of the first ten months of 2024.The rise in shipments highlighted the pick-up in surplus supply late last year and moves to clear the overhang.The exports to India consisted mostly of Group I brightstock.The rise in exports of brightstock to India contrasted with unusually tight availability of the heavy-grade product in the Asia-Pacific market over the past year.The drop in Thailand’s base oils output in January speeded up the removal of the surplus supplies.The country’s total supply, or output and imports combined, duly dipped to less than 74,000 kilolitres in January.The volume fell from more than 83,000 kilolitres in December to the lowest since early last year..Asia’s December lube demand rises .Japan’s January base oils supply falls
Thailand’s base oils supply fell to an eleven-month low in January amid a dip in domestic Group I base oils output.The lower output added to a drop in Group I base oils production in the Asia-Pacific region at the start of the year.It also coincided with a seasonal slowdown in demand, lower Group I base oils margins and signs of a rise in surplus supply at the end of last year.The weaker fundamentals and lower margins at the start of the year boosted the attraction of trimming run rates or making other adjustments to production during that time.Thailand’s Group I base oils output of 46,100 kilolitres (41,000 tonnes) in January fell from more than 57,000 kilolitres in each of the previous three months, government data showed..The volume was the lowest since February 2024, when maintenance work impacted output at both of Thailand’s base oils plants at the start of last year.The drop in output in January affected just one of the refineries, whose base oils exports typically account for the larger share of its production.The drop in output in January coincided with maintenance work on a Group I unit in Indonesia and persistently-low base oils output in Japan.Even with the drop in supply, Asia’s Group I base oils price premium to Singapore gasoil prices slumped in January before recovering.But the recovery barely kept pace with the rise in Group II base oils values, which maintained an increasingly steep premium to Group I base oils prices.The relative price weakness of Group I light and heavy neutrals suggested that supply-demand fundamentals remained weak even with the drop in availability in January.The drop in output in January followed a rise in Thailand’s surplus base oils supply in the fourth quarter of 2024 to its highest level in at least three years.A pick-up in Thailand’s base oils exports to India late last year and early this year followed a pause in such shipments throughout most of the first ten months of 2024.The rise in shipments highlighted the pick-up in surplus supply late last year and moves to clear the overhang.The exports to India consisted mostly of Group I brightstock.The rise in exports of brightstock to India contrasted with unusually tight availability of the heavy-grade product in the Asia-Pacific market over the past year.The drop in Thailand’s base oils output in January speeded up the removal of the surplus supplies.The country’s total supply, or output and imports combined, duly dipped to less than 74,000 kilolitres in January.The volume fell from more than 83,000 kilolitres in December to the lowest since early last year..Asia’s December lube demand rises .Japan’s January base oils supply falls
