Volume 3 Issue 32
Consolidation Looms for Japanese Market
August 9, 2016Japans top four lubricant companies are expected to merge into two entities by 2017, events that could significantly reduce competition. Foreign brands are unlikely to take up much slack, observers say, due to difficulty entering the market.
Handi Sunshine Moves Ahead with Expansion
August 9, 2016China base oil refiner Hainan Handi Sunshine Petrochemical Co. is moving ahead with a delayed expansion of its API Group II plant, though the project has now been scaled back.
Profits Jump at Gulf Oil, GP Petroleums
August 9, 2016Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd. reported that its fiscal first quarters net profit jumped 52 percent to an all-time high, thanks to robust volume growth across all segments. Indias GP Petroleums Ltd. posted a first quarter net profit rise of 70 percent year on year, driven by higher sales and a jump in other income.
GTS Withdraws from Stock Exchange
August 9, 2016Chinas GTS Chemical Holdings withdrew from the London Stock Exchange last week, saying the listing was too expensive and provided too little help in its quest for more capital.
Briefly Noted
August 9, 2016Indonesian oil giant PT Pertamina, along with joint venture partner Saudi Aramco, awarded British firm Amec Foster Wheeler a contract to engineer and manage the upgrading of its integrated Cilacap refinery, which will boost crude processing capacity and upgrade base oil production there. Afton Chemical pushed back expected completion of the second phase of its Singapore additives plant expansion, which will increase its dispersants and zinc dithiophosphate antiwear agent capacities, from 2017 to the following year.