Chemical companies are continuing to raise prices on lubricant additives. Crompton Corp., Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Dow Chemical Co. all announced markups within the past two weeks.
Cromptons Petroleum Additives Business on Monday imposed a surcharge of 8.6 cents per pound on diphenylamine-based antioxidants sold under the Naugalube brand. The Middlebury, Conn., company said the charge was due to rising benzene costs. The price of benzene rose from $2.60 per gallon to $3.85 per gallon in the past two months, the company said, and is up 148 percent since December 2003.
This unforeseeable increase in benzene will have a direct and immediate impact on our DPA-based antioxidant business, said Janet E. Mann, vice president of Petroleum Additives. However, we intend to monitor this situation closely and are prepared to adjust Cromptons pricing on a 30-day cycle coinciding with benzene contract pricing. We hope that benzene prices will return closer to historic levels in the very near future.
Ciba said Friday that it is also raising prices for alkylated diphenylamine antioxidants, marking up its products by approximately 15 percent. The company – which is based in Basel, Switzerland, and has U.S. offices in Tarrytown, N.Y. – sells its products under the Irganox brand. Ciba made its increases effective immediately and attributed them to cost increases absorbed over the past few years. It added that the higher price tags will allow it to consider expanding its capacity to make those materials.
Dow announced Friday that it will raise prices2 cents to 3 cents per pound on surfactants and polyglycols, effective Sept. 1. The Midland, Mich., company markets those products under the Tergitol, Triton and Carbowax brand names. Prices for at least some of the products rose for the second month in a row.