C1 (Shanghai)--03/08/2010----Lubricants plants in China were recently keen on blending medium-viscosity base oils for their lubricants production, as converged Asian refinery maintenance caused shortfall of the imported blendstock, such as 220N and 250N, C1 observed.
Currently, China is suffering a nationwide supply shock of 220N and 250N base oils, which are of medium viscosity, said a source with one Shandong-based blending plant, adding that spot prices of these imported products were driven higher and higher.
Chinese lubricants plants previously replaced 250N base oils with the 220N grade, due to persistent unavailability of the former, according to the Shandong blender. However, with supply of 220N base oils decreasing, lubricants plants have to produce by themselves materials with similar specifications, by blending low-viscosity Group II base oils with the high-viscosity grades, the blender introduced. For example, they took 60N and 500N as blendstock for material similar with 220N base oils.
Prices of the blended base oils were much lowered than the imported materials, some industrial sources noted. Their price spread with 220N was about Yuan 100-200/mt and that with 250N was as high as Yuan 1,000/mt, according to the sources. But they also pointed out the blended products were not as stable as the imported grades in performance, which means the latter is not completely replaceable by the former.
Spot prices of 220N and 250N base oils are expected to keep rising throughput March, as the Asian refineries would not come back from turnaround until April. The supply gap of these products in China would continue to be supplemented by the blended materials, some industry sources pointed out.
