Cibas lube additive products and manufacturing sites are continuing on after the completion of the companys acquisition by BASF, although the Ciba name itself has been phased out.
In July 2009, Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF said it was reviewing strategic options – including restructuring, sale or closure – for 23 of the 55 former Ciba production site worldwide it acquired in June. None of the former Ciba sites that manufacture products for lubricant additives were or will be affected, Douglas Brown, BASFs global business head of lubricant additives, told Lube Report this week.
Brown noted that the Ciba name has been phased out – all the products are now registered trademarks of BASF. BASF is now undergoing a global branding architecture program but as far as we can tell, none of the brand names associated with lubricant additives – Irganox, Irgamet, Irgalube, Irgacor, Irgaflo, Irgamulse and Irrgafos – will change or go away, Brown continued. They are all now registered trademarks of BASF SE.
BASF makes synthetic lubricants and base stocks such as polyalkylene glycols, and produces a number of chemicals used in lubricants, additives and metalworking fluids. Brown noted that no Ciba lube additive products overlapped with existing BASF lube additives. The former Ciba lubricant additive products complemented what BASF offered in the synthetic lubricants area, he explained.
Cibas process and lubricant additives business fell under its plastic additives segment, which was broken up into its components after the acquisition, Brown stated. Cibas process and lubricant additives business became part of BASFs automotive and refinery chemicals business, which is within its performance chemicals division.
Monson Co. of Leominster, Ma., since 2006 has distributed a variety of Cibas lubricant additives in the United States, including antioxidants, corrosion inhibitors, extreme pressure/antiwear additives, friction modifiers, hydraulic fluid packages, pour point depressants and viscosity modifiers.
Doug Hiple, Monsons industry manager for lubricants and metalworking, said the transition process with BASF following the acquisition of Ciba has proven pretty clean and seamless.
I think most of the people understand BASF has purchased Ciba, or at least they understand they can still get the same Ciba product designations, such as Irganox and Irgaflo, Hiple told Lube Report. There has not been a whole lot of confusion on the customer side. Overall, it appears theyre probably going to benefit even more so with BASF behind them, in terms of research and development of new products. So the future looks good.
He said Monson is looking to expand its product offering to include BASFs products – in addition to the former Ciba products – in the future as well. Its been a pretty good relationship, Hiple added.