South Korea’s base oils output fell to a five-month low in September as plant maintenance work began at one of the country’s key base oils units.The drop in output lagged the steeper fall in South Korea’s base oils exports in September.The disconnect triggered a surge in surplus supply that should help to limit the impact of the drop in output during the plant shutdown.Base oils output of 2.58 million barrels (364,000 tonnes) in September fell from 2.72 million barrels the previous month, industry data showed.The volume was the lowest since April, when another base oils unit was offline for maintenance work.The relatively small drop in output in September from August likely reflected the start of the maintenance work beginning in second-half September.Output likely fell even further in October, with the maintenance work continuing throughout the month.Lower output raised the prospect of a sharp drop in South Korea’s base oils exports at the start of the fourth quarter of the year.Shipments to overseas markets already slumped to a multi-year low in September.That sharp fall in exports could instead cushion any further slowdown in shipments in October as refiners tap the build-up of surplus supplies from September.The smaller drop in production triggered a rise in the surplus of base oils output versus exports in September to a three-year high of more than 170,000 tonnes.The surplus rose from less than 30,000 tonnes the previous month.Even with the rise in surplus volumes, South Korea’s expected drop in output in October likely kept base oils exports unusually low for a second month.Asia’s Group II base oils prices firmed relative to prices in US and Europe in recent weeks, reflecting the tighter availability in the Asia-Pacific region at the start of the fourth quarter..South Korea’s Sept base oils exports fall.S Korea's Sept exports to India fall
South Korea’s base oils output fell to a five-month low in September as plant maintenance work began at one of the country’s key base oils units.The drop in output lagged the steeper fall in South Korea’s base oils exports in September.The disconnect triggered a surge in surplus supply that should help to limit the impact of the drop in output during the plant shutdown.Base oils output of 2.58 million barrels (364,000 tonnes) in September fell from 2.72 million barrels the previous month, industry data showed.The volume was the lowest since April, when another base oils unit was offline for maintenance work.The relatively small drop in output in September from August likely reflected the start of the maintenance work beginning in second-half September.Output likely fell even further in October, with the maintenance work continuing throughout the month.Lower output raised the prospect of a sharp drop in South Korea’s base oils exports at the start of the fourth quarter of the year.Shipments to overseas markets already slumped to a multi-year low in September.That sharp fall in exports could instead cushion any further slowdown in shipments in October as refiners tap the build-up of surplus supplies from September.The smaller drop in production triggered a rise in the surplus of base oils output versus exports in September to a three-year high of more than 170,000 tonnes.The surplus rose from less than 30,000 tonnes the previous month.Even with the rise in surplus volumes, South Korea’s expected drop in output in October likely kept base oils exports unusually low for a second month.Asia’s Group II base oils prices firmed relative to prices in US and Europe in recent weeks, reflecting the tighter availability in the Asia-Pacific region at the start of the fourth quarter..South Korea’s Sept base oils exports fall.S Korea's Sept exports to India fall
