Thailand’s Group I base oils supply fell in September amid a seasonal pick-up in domestic demand and a surge in exports.
The slump in supply reversed a surge in surplus volumes the previous month, leaving fundamentals more balanced heading into the fourth quarter of the year.
Total Group I supply, or output less exports and domestic demand, fell to less than 6,000 kilolitres (5,200 tonnes) in September, government data showed.
The volume fell from more than 30,000 kilolitres in August to the second-lowest level in thirteen months.
The lowest level during that period was in July, when plant-maintenance work slashed domestic Group I base oils output.
The August volume by contrast was the highest in more than three years and added to a strong pick-up in Asia’s surplus Group I base oils supply during the final weeks of the third quarter of the year.
The drop in supply in September cut Thai refiner IRPC's Group I supply-surplus that month to the lowest in more than two years.
Thai Lube's supply-surplus fell to the lowest since July, when its unit was offline for maintenance work.
