By some estimates, synthetics now account for over 10 percent of global lubricant consumption and for a much higher percentage of automotive engine oils and transmission lubes. These high-value products depend on a very different supply chain than conventional mineral base oils, shows the new “2011 Nonconventional Base Stocks Guide,” published last week by Lubes’n’Greases magazine.
While the world turns to major oil companies and independent refiners for its mineral base oils, the Guide shows that global chemical giants such as BASF, Croda, Dow and Ineos are key players in nonconventional base stocks, which include esters, polyalphaolefins, polyalkylene glycols and others. Refiners lead only in producing API Group III base oils — one of the fastest-growing base stock types — and are represented by such well-known names as Korea’s GS Caltex, S-Oil and SK Lubricants, chased by ExxonMobil, Neste, Petronas and Shell.
The 2011 Nonconventional Base Stocks Guide, a colorful 22-by-33-inch poster, was mailed last week to all Lubes’n’Greases print-edition subscribers along with the September issue of the magazine. It maps out more than 185 of the world’s nonconventional base stock plants, and shows their company owners, locations, and where relevant capacities. Seven important base stock types are covered: PAO, PAG, esters, phosphate esters, silicones, polyisobutene and Group III.
For many of these products, the Guide’s capacity estimates are a useful way to identify the dominant volume players, such as Dow Chemical for PAG, and Ineos for both PAO and PIB. Other companies can be seen competing across a broad spectrum of specialties; Chemtura, for example, has plants making esters, phosphate esters, PAO and PAG.
Geographically, the United States, Western Europe and Japan claim by far the greatest share of synthetic base stock plants, but Asia has been adding plants rapidly, the map shows.
“The new Guide is a snapshot of the industry at it stood in late July,” explained Nancy DeMarco, publisher of Lubes’n’Greases and of Lube Report. “It shows how and where this industry is attracting new players, such as three new producers for phosphate esters added since last year — all three in Asia — and also how chemical company consolidation is affecting the ownership of many plants.”
A prime example of this is BASF’s acquisition of Cognis last December, she continued. With that single purchase, BASF added a half-dozen Cognis esters plants to its stable, plus two PAG plants (one of which, in Hythe, U.K., in turn was divested to GEO Specialty Chemicals, the 2011 Guide shows).
Demand for synthetic lubricants also is prompting companies to invest in new base stock capacity. Chevron Phillips Chemical this year began offering greater volumes of high-viscosity PAO through a toll manufacturing agreement, and Chemtura said it had expanded capacity for PAO at its plant in Elmira, Ont., Canada. Chemtura additionally last month unveiled plans to open a new high-vis PAO plant in Amsterdam by 2013, to meet growing demand.
In the esters area, July 1 saw the launch of Croda’s new plant at its Atlas Point site in New Castle, Del., a move which it said boosted its U.S. esters capacity by 15 percent. Croda said the expansion was spurred by rising demand for synthetic automotive lubricants, hydraulic fluids, metalworking fluids, food-grade lubes and other high-performance products.
The 2011 Nonconventional Base Stocks Guide was created in close cooperation with Pathmaster Marketing Ltd., Woking, U.K. For information about ordering a copy, visit www.lngpublishing.com/BaseStockGuides/index.cfm.