Volume 4 Issue 30

Bashneft Boosts Bright Stock Output

Russian oil major Bashneft increased its bright stock sales by 16% last year by streamlining its production process, the company said in a recent news release. The change is part of a company effort to increase profit margins.

U.S. Firm Takes Biggest Nynas Stake

A United States investment firm is the largest shareholder of Stockholm-based Nynas AB after acquiring a 49.9% stake in the refiner. The firm played a role in Nynas’ recent financial restructuring. New York City-based Davidson Kempner Capital Management acquired the stake from bitumen producer Bitumina Industries Ltd., which had bought the stake from Finnish refiner Neste.

Engine Oil Price Hikes Authorized in Iran

Iranian regulators recently authorized a 41% hike in prices for gasoline and diesel automotive engine oils. The country’s Consumer and Producer Protection Organization signed off on the increases – the second such markups in nine months – partly to acknowledge cost increases absorbed by producers but also to combat dwindling domestic supply.

From Other Editions of Lube Report

India Cuts Palm Oil Import Duty

SK Extends Use of Recycled Containers

Axel Invests in Three U.S. Grease Plants

Briefly Noted

Ernst Proust, managing director of German lubricant and aftermarket additive maker Liqui Moly, announced he will retire on Feb. 22, 2022.  Emirates for Universal Tyres LLC, part of Abdulla Al Masaood & Sons Group, will distribute the British Duckhams lubricant brand in the United Arab Emirates under an agreement announced last week.  Effective immediately or as contracts allow, Brussels, Belgium-based Solvay will increase prices by 10% on all grades of its Supersol wire drawing lubricants, on a worldwide basis. Solvay noted that since the beginning of 2021, the cost of raw materials and non-raw material input costs – including freight, energy, and labor – continued to increase well beyond earlier expectations.