Japanese specialty lubricant manufacturer Moresco Corp will set up a new company in China to consolidate its lubricant plants in Shanghai and Wuxi into a new plant in Zhejiang, eastern China, the company announced on Feb. 14. The company did not disclose a timeline for construction of the new plant, but the new company has provisionally been named Moresco (Zhejiang) Functional Material Co.

Rerefiners of used lubricants suffered some of the same problems that have impacted producers of virgin base oils during the COVID-19 pandemic, but one of the biggest problems for virgin base oil producers – a shortage of feedstocks for their own operations – became a big advantage for the rerefining segment. Rerefiners enjoyed a significant uptick in demand from lubricant blenders who could not find enough virgin base oil.

Base oil imports to China fell 15% in 2021, according to recently released government data, continuing a decrease in business for foreign suppliers during a surge in production capacity within the country. Import volumes have now decreased three consecutive years and have fallen from around 2.6 million tons since 2017.

South Korea’s Hyundai Shell Base Oil and the GS Caltex base oil and lubricant business both reported much higher operating profit and sales for the fourth quarter and full year 2021, compared to the same periods in 2020. Profits fell for several companies in India – Tide Water Oil Co., Savita Oil Technologies Ltd. and Continental Petroleums Ltd. – but rose for Indian base oils and lubricants trader Maximus International.