Brazil’s base oil imports rose to a 16-month high in October on a jump in shipments from the US.
Base oil imports rose to 57,250t in October, government data showed. The volume rose by 15pc from the previous month to the highest since June 2019. Shipments of more than 46,000t from the US accounted for more than 80pc of the total.
Imports rose even as US base oil production faced ongoing disruptions in October following a raft of major storms that struck the US Gulf coast from late August. The tighter supply triggered a sustained rise in US base oil export prices. These have maintained an unusual premium to US domestic prices since late August.
The rise in base oil shipments took Brazil’s total imports to 417,830t in the first 10 months of this year. The volume was down by 1.7pc from 425,000t during the same 10-month period last year.
The steady import volumes contrasted with a much sharper fall in the country’s base oil production and lube demand. Base oil output fell by more than 20pc over the first nine months of this year, and lube consumption by 8pc. The trend left imports covering a growing share of the country’s lube demand.
Imports of Group I base oils from Europe and north Africa rose to 1,970t in October. The volume compared with total imports of 2,440t from that region in the first nine months of the year. Imports got a boost in October from the first shipments from Greece and Egypt in more than a decade.
Demand for overseas supplies of Group I base oils has risen in response to the drop in domestic output of the grade.
SOURCE: Argus Media
