China increases August base oils imports 32%

25 September 2008 11:54  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Chinese base oils imports in August were pegged at 116,249 tonnes, 32% higher than the same month last year on growing demand, according to Chinese trade statistics for August released on Thursday.

Cumulative base oils imports from January to August totalled 1.04m tonnes, just shy of the full-year 2007 imports of 1.15m tonnes.

Total Chinese consumption of base oils in 2007 was estimated at 5.3m tonnes.

Base oils imports have been rising in China on the back of huge demand from the rapidly growing fleet of automobiles in the country as well as the growth in heavy industry, said regional base oil traders.

The expected slowdown in import volumes during August due to the logistics restrictions imposed during the Beijing Olympics failed to materialise, surprising some regional base oils players.

Chinese base oils production has lagged consumption growth and increasingly the gap has to be filled by imports, said a northeast Asian base oils producer.

Base oils are used as a feedstock to produce automotive and industrial lubricants.

Major base oils producers in Asia include Exxon Mobil, Shell, SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil, Nippon Oil, Petrochina and Sinopec.

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By: Anu Agarwal
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