Thailand’s lube demand rose in September for the first time in seven months, adding to signs of an improvement in the country’s economic activity at the end of the third quarter of the year.
Stronger lube demand also provided the country’s Group I base oils refiners with a larger domestic outlet for their supplies.
The rise in Group I base oils consumption in turn cut the volume of supplies that the refiners had to clear through overseas markets, which faced a persistent surplus in recent months.
Thailand’s lube consumption came to 40,000 kilolitres (35,400 tonnes) in September, government data showed.
The volume rebounded from close to or less than 30,000 kilolitres in each of the previous two months and rose by 10% from year-earlier levels.
Demand rose on the back of a surge in consumption of passenger-car-motor oils that outweighed an ongoing slide in demand for heavy-duty engine oils.
Domestic demand for Group I base oils from the country’s refiners fell in September for a third month from year-earlier levels.
But the volume rose from August and accounted for more than 40% of Thailand’s total lube consumption.
The share was up from typical levels of closer to 30% of total consumption during the previous twelve months.
