Volume 8 Issue 2

U.S. Blocks Sime Darby Palm Oil

The United States Customs and Border Protection agency last week announced a ban on palm oil produced in Malaysia by Sime Darby Plantation Bhd. and any products containing it due to suspicion that it is produced using forced labor and child labor.

Idemitsu to Buy Up Toa Shares

Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co. will consolidate its lubricant and grease business by buying up stock of Toa Oil Co. to make the small refiner a wholly-owned subsidiary, according to a Toa Oil statement.

SK Promises Green Strategy

The parent company of SK Lubricants is looking for partners for base oil and chemical joint ventures, according to a New Year’s address by its CEO. He added that the company aims to introduce environmentally benign finished lubricants and to further develop technology that recycles waste plastics into products such as base oils.

From Other Editions of Lube Report

Finished Lube Prices Climbing

ELGI Warns of Lithium Classification

Survey Suggests Setback in Russian Market

Briefly Noted

Daelim Industrial of South Korea on Jan. 1 was divided into DL Holdings, construction business DL E&C and petrochemical company DL Chemical. Daelim said in a news release that DL Chemical plans to grow into a global petrochemical company by expanding its business scale through expansion of existing production facilities and entering into specialty businesses, including lubricants.