Lubricants and biocides manufacturer Arxada and Troy, a producer of metalworking fluid biocides, will merge their businesses, expanding the manufacturing and product portfolios of the both businesses, the companies announced last week. Arxada, formerly known as Lonza Specialty Ingredients and based in Basel, Switzerland, makes biocides, corrosion inhibitors, lubricants and specialty additives for lubricants and metalworking fluids under its Microbial Control Solutions umbrella.

With numbers still ramping up rapidly from such a small base, forecasting global electric vehicle sales far into the future is a dodgy undertaking, but a consulting firm estimates that they will comprise 35% of the total passenger vehicle fleets in 15 large or developed nations by 2040, and that annual passenger car motor oil demand in those markets will decline by approximately 700,000 metric tons over the same period.

London-based BP reported an underlying replacement cost profit of $231 million for its Castrol lubricants business before interest and taxes for the third quarter, a 29% decline from $326 million in the same period in 2020. The company cited rising base oil prices as a key factor.