India's base oil imports rise in 2024

Market: Oil products
18/03/25

India's base oil imports rose by 15pc on the year to 2.71mn t in 2024, data from GTT show.

Lower domestic production, because of plant maintenance, and higher finished lubricant consumption boosted imports in 2024. Consumption of lubricant and grease increased by 8pc on the year to 4.44mn t in 2024, oil ministry data show.
India's base oil imports fell by 19pc on the year to 201,734t in December 2024. Lower-than-expected demand at the end of the year, owing to slowing economic growth in India, likely caused the decline. Base oil imports in December were largely stable as compared with the previous month.
South Korea remains the top supplier to India, with imports exceeding 1.15mn t in 2024, a 27pc increase from the previous year. But imports from South Korea dropped by 28pc on the year to 82,989t in December because of reduced supply, with a key refiner having maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Imports from Singapore and Taiwan increased by 25pc and 28pc respectively in 2024. Asian suppliers are diverting supply to other markets with falling demand from China.
The Mideast Gulf remains a key supply region, supplying close to a quarter of India's imports in 2024. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among top suppliers.

By Chng Li Li

India base oils imports					unit
	Dec'24	m-o-m ± %	y-o-y ± %	Jan-Dec 24	y-o-y ± %
South Korea	82,989	-9.7	-27.5	1,150,234	27.1
Singapore	41,656	129.7	69.4	399,599	25.1
Saudi Arabia	25,738	18.7	20.1	251,387	-9.0
UAE	17,198	-38.2	-30.3	266,178	18.1
Taiwan	14,221	9.4	213.7	115,877	28.0
Monthly total	201,734	-0.4	-18.8	2,713,623	14.6
Source: GTT
Total includes all countries, not just those listed

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