China’s Group II base oils output rose to a fourteen-month high in May as plant maintenance work began to draw to a close.

Group II base oils output of close to 304,000t in May rose from little more than 261,000t the previous month, OilChem China data showed.

The volume rose for the first time from year-earlier levels in more than a year to the highest since March 2022.

That was when strict lockdowns were enforced in a growing number of key commercial centres in China to thwart the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Output in April remained far below production levels of almost 485,000t in April 2021.