Houston, (Texas): The Base Oil market in the North American regions has witnessed moderate sentiments since the first week of August. The overall market transactions for Base Oil remained below average amidst steady demand in the domestic market, followed by a conservative attitude of the market participants regarding the volume procurement over the current inventories. The market is observing softer fundamentals besides the uncertainties regarding the hurricane season on the U.S. Gulf coast.

The refiners have also increased the output for the Base Oils post prices for the International Crude Oil market plunged consistently for the second week amidst slower demand induced by rising inflation in the global market. In addition, the economic woes faced by India and China for numerous reasons levied a significant impact on the demand outlook, besides the persistent uncertainty hovering for a sudden rebound. Therefore to protect the interests and netbacks, the U.S. refiners were over-stocking the Base Oil ahead of any disruption caused by the Hurricane, followed by the rising geopolitical conflict between China and Taiwan.     

Whereas in Mexico, several buyers were hesitant about the current offers quoted for the U.S Base Oils, few actively participated in the spot transactions as they sought to replenish their inventories. In addition, several Base Oil cargoes for API Group I and Group II were consistently offloaded at the Mexican ports amidst the competitive prices as they met the current requirements for several market participants.

As per the ChemAnalyst pricing intelligence, several Base Oil cargoes were procured at lucrative discounts as the rising supply against the muted demand exerted a downtrend in the offers for Base Oil in the North American region. Although several market experts firmly believe that the prices for Base Oils will surge as the demand improves from the Northwest European markets in the upcoming terms.