Brazil’s base oil imports and exports both rose by double-digit percentages in February, according to data released last week by the nation’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels.
Base oil imports to South America’s largest lubricant market rose 20% in February to 61,000 metric tons, compared to 51,000 tons in the same month last year.
Through the first two months of this year, Brazil imported 171,000 tons of base oil, a 58% jump from 109,000 tons in the same period last year.
Most of the base oil that Brazil imports comes from the United States, and the majority of that is API Group II.
The vast majority of the country’s virgin base oil production is from a plant at Petrobras’ Duque de Caxias Refinery, known as Reduc. The remainder comes from the Lubnor base oil plant owned by Petrobras in Fortaleza, in the northeastern state of Ceara, and a plant at Acelen’s Mataripe Refinery in Sao Francisco do Conde.
Brazil exported 7,000 tons of base oil in February, up 11% from 6,000 tons in the same month of 2023.