Base Oil CFR Türkiye: SN150, SN500 and Group II for Turkish Lubricant Blenders

Türkiye has one Group I base oil plant for a lubricant market of about 400,000 tonnes, and imports the rest

Türkiye's lubricant market is about 400,000 tonnes a year (PETDER counted 401,439 t of lubricants in 2022), and the country makes little of its own base oil: Tüpraş's Izmir refinery is the only Group I plant, at 400,000 t a year of capacity, and in August 2023 it produced 9,050 t while Türkiye imported 52,940 t, of which 23,565 t were Group I and 29,375 t premium Group II and III grades (Argus). Türkiye files base oil under its own national line 2710.19.99.00.11, 'spindle oil, light neutral, heavy neutral, bright stock', inside an HS heading that is mostly diesel, so its customs totals do not show base oil on its own. The EU refiners' declarations show the European side of the trade: exports to Türkiye under CN 2710 19 99, which carries base oil and some other oils, were 462,752 t in 2023, 371,323 t in 2024 and 299,594 t in 2025, with Spain shipping about 163,600 t, Italy 65,900 t, Belgium 39,800 t and Greece 21,500 t in 2025. The volume held in 2026, at 212,745 t from January to August against 213,865 t a year earlier, but the declared value jumped: from €820 to €844 a tonne in the first quarter to €1,594 in May and €1,957 in August, with Spanish shipments up from €761/t in the first quarter to €1,710/t from April to August. Argus assesses Group I at CFR Gebze, the Izmit Bay discharge point for the Marmara blenders.

CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers Group I SN150, SN500 and bright stock and Group II N150 and N500 CFR Gebze, Izmit, Mersin and Aliağa, in bulk parcels on chemical and product tankers or in flexitanks for container lots. Every lot ships against the producing refinery's COA and a certificate of origin naming the refinery, with SGS or Intertek inspection at load. Base oil pays Türkiye's special consumption tax (ÖTV) under list I at 10.1465 TL per kilogram in 2026, the same amount as finished lubricants, after 8.1992 TL/kg at the start of 2025 and 9.4872 TL/kg from July 2025; the July 2026 revaluation was suspended to the end of the year. Customs duty on the lines under heading 2710.19 ranges from 3.5% to 4.7% on the 2023 MFN schedule, and origin under the EU–Türkiye customs union or a free-trade agreement changes it, so the origin and the preference certificate are settled before a price. Blenders hold a lubricant licence from the energy regulator EPDK. Send the grade and group, the quantity, bulk or flexitank, the discharge port, the importer of record and its EPDK licence, the delivery month and the payment terms, and the enquiry is screened and worked against them.

Also on this lane: SN150 base oil · SN500 base oil · Group II base oil

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