Analysis on the proportion of China’s total import of base oil I/II/III in 2018
With the continuous improvement of lubricating oil consumption level in China’s market, the demand and supply ratio of base oil type I/II/III are changing quietly. From the earliest when class I dominated the market to the present when class II hydrogenation base market became the main force, the future market prospect of class III base oil is also immeasurable.
In 2018, China imported 527,405 tons of class I basic oil, accounting for 17% of its total imports. Category II imports totaled 1,473,802 tons, accounting for 53% of total imports. Category III imports totaled 633,808 tons, accounting for 23% of total imports. III+ imports totaled 77,754 tons, or 3% of the total. As can be seen from the above charts and data, China’s total import is still the first class II base oil, followed by class III base oil.
The small knot
With the increasing of class II hydrogenation unit in our country, and the continuous improvement of the equipment technology progress, China’s home-grown II class to improve in the hydrogenation base oil quality, so the import base oil can replace more and more, and the dependence on import class II base oil to China also will continue to reduce, expected late class II import resource imports will be reduced year by year. However, the overall supply of domestic class III base oil is scarce, and the current process is far from the imported class III process. The domestic class III resources are mainly imported, and the dependence on foreign class III resources is strong. It is expected that the import volume of class III imported resources will remain stable in the future.