Lubes em Foco Magazine – issue 93
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The Brazilian lubricants market in 2024
The year 2024 was a very profitable year for the Brazilian industrial sector in general, especially the automotive and oil segments. Brazilian industry as a whole grew by 3.3%, contributing to the increase in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which closed the year at 3.4%. This was the third largest growth in the industry in the last 15 years. According to the National Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers – ANFAVEA, there was a 14.1% increase in total vehicle sales, with a 9.7% growth in production, compared to the previous year. Regarding petroleum derivatives, 133.1 billion liters of liquid automotive fuels were sold in Brazil. In the case of C gasoline (with anhydrous ethanol blend), there were 44.19 billion liters, a 4% reduction compared to 2023. However, hydrated ethanol fuel had 21.66 billion liters in sales, an increase of 33.4%, bringing the total for Otto cycle engines to a rise of 5.7%.
The Brazilian lubricants market is directly related to these three parameters (GDP, Automotive Industry and Fuel Consumption) and, therefore, was positively impacted in 2024, showing a growth of 2.3% that led it to reach the mark of 1,531,745 cubic meters, consolidating a historic sales record. This number led Brazil to occupy the 5th position in the world lubricants market, behind only China, the United States, India and Japan.
Market share
In terms of market share, Brazil currently has around 150 lubricant producers, with 71.3% of this market concentrated in 5 large companies. The ranking of the TOP 10 lubricant producers in Brazil is shown in the figure.
Import of finished oils
Considering imports of finished oils, Brazil spent around US$ 158.7 million to bring 42.4 thousand cubic meters of products from other countries, with the United States as the main supplier with around 41.2%, followed by Germany with 11.6%, France with 11.5%, India with 6.2%, Belgium with 4.7%, Italy with 4.5%, Switzerland with 3.7% and the remaining 16.7% coming in small quantities from 37 countries.
Export of finished oils
With exports of finished oils, the country earned US$212.6 million, sending a volume of around 88 thousand m3, with the main destinations being: Paraguay (27.3%), Bolivia (14.4%), Argentina (13.1%), Uruguay (8.6%), Venezuela (5.9%) followed by Chile, Peru, Colombia, Panama and several others with small quantities.
Base Oils
Brazil continues to be a major importer of base oils, mainly from groups II and III, since the demand for quality in automotive oils increasingly points to low-viscosity products, which require more hydrogenated and less viscous base oils, and Brazilian refineries are still unable to meet this demand, with only one re-refinery (Lwart) producing group II oils in the country. There are great prospects for the start of operations at Petrobras’ Gaslub hub (formerly Comperj), located in the city of Itaboraí, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, but no date has yet been set.
Base oil imports in 2024 reached the second highest level in history, with a total of 722 thousand tons, equivalent to approximately 802 thousand m3, second only to 2021, when imports reached 868 thousand m3. This year, Brazil spent around US$772 million to import base oils from abroad.
The United States was responsible for sending 76.2% of the base oils imported by Brazil, followed by South Korea, with 4.9% and Malaysia with 4.5%, followed by Bahrain (3.9%), Qatar (3.3%) and India (2.3%) and several other countries with smaller quantities.
Around 646,424 m3 of base oils were placed on the market by Brazilian refineries, 72% of which was produced by the Duque de Caxias Refinery (REDUC), in Rio de Janeiro, and all of it in group I. Lubnor, with the production of naphthenes, produced 8% of the total, with the remaining 20% being produced by the Mataripe Refinery, in Bahia. The Rerrefining Industry, which has 15 producers authorized by the ANP, has traditionally contributed significantly to the sustainability of the lubricants sector and, consequently, to the placement of a significant percentage of base oils in the Brazilian market, which has varied between 22 and 24%. Strangely, the ANP did not publish consistent figures for this sector in 2024, thus making it impossible to conduct a more accurate analysis of the volumes offered by this segment.
Difficulties with market numbers continue
Despite ANP’s efforts to increase the consistency of the figures compiled from its Product Movement Information System (SIMP), there are still many difficulties in achieving good integration with market agents and presenting its figures in a regular and consistent manner. The outlook for 2025 still involves many adjustments and revisions so that the reliability of the published figures increases and a more realistic overview of the Brazilian lubricants market can be obtained. In the meantime, Lubes em Foco magazine continues its research to consolidate information and seek a data analysis that brings it closer to the market reality.
