OIL SANCTIONS
Dump struck?
THINGS are running far from smoothly for the British lubricant and engine oil market in the era of post-Ukraine invasion sanctions on Russian oil.
What was a competitive business essential to the motor and engineering trade, in which a host of fairly small companies blend and sell the products in the UK, has been plagued by what suppliers consider dumping of product blended mostly in the Jebel Ali freeport in Dubai – a favoured destination for post-invasion Russian oil exports because of its absence of sanctions.
Last year this prompted Derbyshire-based Aztec Oils to complain to the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority. This post-Brexit body (anti-dumping was an EU matter) has yet to opine, but results since filed by the main alleged dumper – and associated trade data – show how serious the problem is.