The markets are still very disjointed. Some routes have been rather slow this week, even in the Americas and Asia, but equally there have been routes in all three main regions in which activity has improved.-by Adrian Brown

The European Commission last week adopted a quota for API Group II base oil imports, determining that volumes above 400,000 metric tons per year will be subject to duties of 3.7 percent.

European trade associations representing lubricant and chemical additive suppliers have agreed to create a task force on complying with chemical regulations including communication of sensitive information throughout the supply chain.

API Group I rationalization continues to occur in Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States - with more expected in the Middle East - while an influx of new Group II capacity is projected to result in a surplus of that grade in Russia and CIS countries, an industry insider said.