Last year was a good year for finished lubricant suppliers in South Asia. For much of the rest of the world, though, 2025 brought challenges that made it harder to be profitable — for base oil and lubricant additive companies as well as lube marketers.
Those are the general conclusions drawn from a survey of financial reports from 17 publicly held businesses in this industry. Two companies in India and a third in Sri Lanka saw profits increase in 2025 — not a surprise given the state of economies in those countries and the expansion of India’s lube market.
Of the remaining 14 businesses, nine reported profits dropping from the previous year, significantly worse than in 2024 when nine of those 14 — and 12 of the overall 17 — posted gains in profits. Most said they struggled last year with trade wars, tariffs and disruptions to supply chains.
BP’s Castrol was one of the top performers among the survey group, achieving an underlying replacement costs profit of £1.15 billion (U.S. $976 million) last year, 14% better than in 2024. (See table.) Profits rose that much despite sales revenue increasing just 3%. Castrol is one of the world’s largest lubricant suppliers, and BP is one of the few integrated energy companies to break out its lubricant business in financial reports.
BP’s annual report offered little explanation for Castrol’s performance, other than to note that the fourth quarter marked the 10th quarter in a row of revenue growing on a year-to-year basis. BP stands to benefit less from Castrol’s performance going forward. The oil company has agreed to sell a 65% stake in the lubricant business to American private equity firm Stonepeak, a deal it expects to close by the end of this year.
Most of the other lube marketers in the survey did not fare as well, and most blamed results at least partially on tariffs, trade wars and real wars.
Industry earnings
(millions of currency units)
Main business | Company | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||||||||
Revenue | % Change | Earnings | % Change | Revenue | % Change | Earnings | % Change | Revenue | % Change | Earnings | % Change | Revenue | % Change | Earnings | % Change | ||
Finished lubricants | Castrol1 | 7,100 ($6,024) | 3% | 1,150 | 14% | 6,900 | -1% | 1,007 | 12% | 7,000 | n.a. | 897 | 5% | n.a. | n.a. | 853 | -28% |
Quaker Houghton | 1,889 | 3% | (2) | -102% | 1,839 | -6% | 117 | 3% | 1,950 | 1% | 113 | -809% | 1,940 | 10% | (16) | -113% | |
Fuchs Group | 3,563 ($4,200) | 1% | 306 | 1% | 3,525 | 0% | 302 | 6% | 3,540 | 4% | 284 | 9% | 3,410 | 19% | 260 | 2% | |
Moove2 | 8,100 ($1,491) | -19% | 525 | -7% | 9,990 | -1% | 562 | 111% | 10,070 | 13% | 266 | -36% | 8,890 | 47% | 414 | 43% | |
Lopal | 8,940 ($1,248) | 16% | (171) | -73% | 7,680 | -12% | (636) | -48% | 8,730 | -38% | (1,233) | -264% | 14,070 | 247% | 752 | 115% | |
Castrol India | 57,220 ($668) | 7% | 9,500 | 2% | 53,650 | 6% | 9,270 | 7% | 50,750 | 6% | 8,640 | 6% | 47,740 | 14% | 8,150 | 8% | |
Veedol | 19,700 ($230) | 1% | 1,688 | 18% | 19,530 | 4% | 1,429 | 25% | 18,690 | 20% | 1,145 | -7% | 15,550 | 21% | 1,229 | -13% | |
Chevron Lanka | 24,390 ($81) | 6% | 4,050 | 5% | 22,960 | -1% | 3,860 | 7% | 23,250 | -5% | 3,600 | -2% | 24,570 | 46% | 3,670 | -7% | |
AP Oil International | 57 ($45) | 4% | 1.6 | -23% | 54.7 | 18% | 2.1 | 293% | 46 | -24% | 0.5 | -52% | 61 | 10% | 1 | -60% | |
Base oils | SK Enmove3 | 3,836,100 ($2,840) | -9% | 607,600 | -12% | 4,235,400 | -7% | 686,700 | -28% | 4,551,700 | -9% | 950,200 | -11% | 4,981,500 | 49% | 1,071,200 | 11% |
HF Sinclair Lubricants and Specialties | 2,526 | -7% | 258 | -31% | 2,712 | -2% | 240 | -7% | 2,775 | -12% | 258 | -13% | 3,158 | 23% | 296 | 22% | |
S-Oil4 | 3,007,400 ($2,227) | -4% | 582,100 | 2% | 3,129,700 | 1% | 571,200 | -30% | 3,085,400 | -11% | 815,700 | -27% | 3,451,600 | 32% | 1,110,500 | 12% | |
Luberef | 8,103 ($2,160) | -19% | 855 | -12% | 10,040 | 6% | 972 | -36% | 9,490 | -11% | 1,510 | -24% | 10,610 | 20% | 1,980 | 32% | |
Lubricant additives | Lubrizol5 | 6,200 | -3% | n.a. | -21% | 6,400 | 0% | n.a. | 31% | 6,400 | -4% | n.a. | n.a. | 6,700 | 3% | n.a. | 49% |
Afton Chemical6 | 2,534 | -4% | 520 | -12% | 2,636 | -2% | 592 | 15% | 2,698 | 15% | 514 | 36% | 2,342 | 17% | 378 | 35% | |
KH Neochem | 114,000 ($792) | 7% | 7,000 | 13% | 107,000 | 4% | 6,200 | 313% | 102,700 | -15% | 1,500 | -85% | 120,300 | 16% | 9,900 | -14% | |
Richful Lube Additive | 3,510 ($490) | 11% | 736 | 2% | 3,160 | 12% | 722 | 19% | 2,820 | -8% | 606 | 3% | 3,050 | 182% | 588 | 193% | |
Notes
Revenue and earnings are in company home currency throughout, but U.S. dollar conversions are added in 2025 revenue column for comparison sake, using July 1, 2025 exchange rates; 1 BP segment; 2 Cosan unit; 3 Lubricants unit of SK Innovation; 4 Lubricants segment; 5Subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which reports percent changes for earnings but not earnings; 6 NewMarket’s Petroleum Additives unit
Fuchs Group Executive Board Chairman Stefan Fuchs said, “2025 was a difficult year from a geopolitical perspective. In addition to a number of wars, U.S. customs policy was a particular challenge.” Headquartered in Mannheim, Germany, Fuchs is the world’s largest independent lubricant supplier. It’s earnings after tax barely improved last year, rising 1% to €306 million.
The company noted that the global economy expanded 3.3% in 2025, flat with 2024, but that progress was mixed; The pace of growth in China has slowed from years past, but it still grew 5% last year. The Eurozone expanded 1.5%, up from 0.9%, while the U.S. slowed from 2.8% to 2.1%. Trends in key business sectors were mixed. Global automobile sales rose 3.6%, up from 2.1% in 2024. Global production of crude steel shrank 2%.
Quaker Houghton, one of the world’s largest industrial lubricant suppliers, likewise cited “challenging end-market conditions, especially in the Americas and EMEA segments.” It had one of the toughest years among the survey group, suffering a $2.5 million loss compared to a profit of $116.6 million in 2024. The company noted that most of the loss stemmed from an $88 million write-down of goodwill associated with its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but even disregarding that the company’s profitability declined as lower margins and increased selling and administrative expenses offset an increase in sales revenue.
The direction of the company’s performance varied between regions. In Asia-Pacific, increased sales — some stemming from acquisitions — more than offset lower margins to yield an improved operating profit. Its operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, also experienced increased sales and lower margin, but the result was a lower operating profit. In the Americas it experienced lower sales and lower margins, so of couse operating profit fell.
Brazilian conglomerate Cosan recorded a 42% jump in net income for lubricant producer and distributor Moove, but much of that was thanks to an insurance settlement on a February 2025 fire at its blending plant in Rio de Janeiro. Disregarding one-time items and accounting factors, 2025 net income was nearly flat with 2024, which might be considered an accomplishment, though, since sales volumes and revenue declined by 7% and 9%, respectively. The company said the sales declines resulted from the fire.
NewMarket Corp. reported that its Petroleum Additives division, mostly comprised of U.S.-based lube additive supplier Afton Chemical, suffered a 12% decline in operating profit due to lower volumes, narrower margins and higher costs. The company also increased it spending on research and development. Lubrizol Corp., a subsidiary of U.S. investment giant Berkshire Hathaway and another of the world’s largest lube additive suppliers, sustained a bigger drop in pre-tax earnings — 21%. Berkshire, which reports percentage changes in Lubrizol earnings but not the value of those earnings, cited the same factors as NewMarket: lower volumes, lower sales prices and increased manufacturing costs, along with litigation expenses.
Base oil suppliers among the survey group found the sledding rough in 2025. South Korean Refiners SK Innovation and S-Oil both reported better margins due to lower crude oil costs but lower sales on for their “lubricants” businesses, which are mostly base oils. For SK it added up to a 12% drop in profits on 9% less revenue, while S-Oil eked out 2% more profits on 4% less revenue. SK is the world’s largest producer of API Group III base oils, while S-Oil makes Group II and Group III.
U.S. oil company HF Sinclair said its Lubricants and Spepcialties business — which produces Group I, II and III base oils and finished lubricants — sustained a 31% drop in profitability and a 7% dip in revenue. Unlike the South Korean companies, Sinclair said it was dealing with worse margins. It added that the unit helped its profits by using more of its base oils in house to make finished lubes.
Saudi Arabia-based Luberef reported that revenue and earnings dropped 19% and 12%, respectively, mostly because of an extended temporary maintenance shutdown at its refinery in Yanbu.
The general trend for all these companies was bucked by Castrol India and Veedol, which operate mostly in India, which stands out as the world’s third-largest lubricant market — behind the United States and China — and among the fastest growers. A Kline study cited by Fuchs forecasts lubricant demand volumes in the country will grow at a compound annual rate of 4.2% from 2025-2026, compared to 0.8% for the U.S., 1.1% for Mexico, 1.5% for Brazil, 2.1% for Indonesia, minus 5% for China and 0.8% for the world overall.
“India stands out as a unique and promising market in this global context,” Veedol said, describing the market as “vibrant and diverse.”
Officials for Castrol India, which is majority owned by BP, sounded bullish in the company’s annual report, saying automotive engine oil sales in the country are still growing strong despite increasing sales, from a small base, of battery electric vehicles, which do not use engine oil.
“We expect hybrids and [internal combustion engine] technologies to remain dominant in the medium term,” Interim CEO Saugata Basuray said. “BEVs will continue to grow, particularly in two- and three-wheelers.” He also cited rising lubricant demand from the agricultural sector, where the country’s tractor fleet is growing. Castrol India’s net profit rose 2% last year, while Veedol’s jumped 18%.
The economy on India’s island neighbor, Sri Lanka, is growing just a bit slower, at 5% in 2025. The nation’s largest lubricant supplier, Chevron Lanka, benefitted from that, posting a 5% improvement in profit according to preliminary quarterly reports.
Tim Sullivan is Executive Editor of Lubes’n’Greases. Contact him at Tim@LubesnGreases.com