Volume 10 Issue 32

Motor Oil Buyers, Beware
August 11, 2010U.S. motor oil watchdog Petroleum Quality Institute of America has posted the sad results of its latest tests: four of six private-label oils failed to meet their labeled specs. PQIA purchased randomly selected samples of six private-label brands of engine oil in South Atlantic states in June, and sent samples to an independent laboratory for testing. PQIA President Tom Glenn acknowledged that he was surprised by the poor results. On its label, one of the samples, U.S. Economy 5-30 manufactur...

Fuchs Swallows Shell's Food Lubes
August 11, 2010Fuchs Petrolub AG has acquired the worldwide food-grade lubricants business of Shell International Petroleum. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition takes effect on October 1. Fuchs will integrate Shells food-grade lubricants business into Fuchs Lubritech, its own lubricants specialty division based in Kaiserslautern, in southwest Germany. In 2009 Shell generated sales revenues of 21 million (U.S. 28 million) in its food-grade lubricant business. It is an asset deal, which means we acquired...

Kroff Joins Metalworking Fluid Fray
August 11, 2010Water treatment supplier Kroff has launched a new player in the competitive U.S. metalworking fluid industry. Kroff Process Technologies aims to supply fluids to the primary metals, automotive and durable goods industries. It was a natural evolution for Kroff, David Sunderlik, Midwest area business manager for both Kroff and KPT, told Lube Report. Kroff is a classic water treatment company in primary metals. Big steel was our niche and is still a primary focus. Customers ask us to screen the me...

2Q Improvements for Afton, Calumet
August 11, 2010NewMarkets Afton Chemical additives subsidiary saw hefty upticks in revenues and operating profits, and Calumet substantially reduced its net loss, for the quarter ending June 30 compared to the year-ago quarter. Calumet Specialty Products Partners reported a net loss of $900,000 for the quarter ending June 30, compared to a net deficit of $26 million in the year-earlier period. Calumets sales reached $514.7 million in the second quarter, up almost 16 percent from $444 million in 2009s second q...

Graham Buys Liquid Container
August 11, 2010Graham Packaging Co. is acquiring Liquid Container L.P., which operates 14 U.S. blow-molded plastic container plants, for $568 million. Graham announced Monday that its subsidiary, Graham Packaging Acquisition Corp., agreed to purchased West Chicago, Ill.-based Liquid Container. While Liquid Container is a supplier of blow-molded motor oil bottles to the lubricants and automotive chemicals industries, close to 80 percent of its unit sales go to customers in the food industry. Graham, headquarte...

Kyrgyz Oil Imports Hurt
August 11, 2010Volumes oflubricants, fuels and other petroleum products imported into Kyrgyzstan have been vastly reduced in the last seven months, Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg reported last week. It is a result of the increased export taxes on light and heavy refined products imposed recently by the Russian government, the Kyrgyz state custom service told the agency, adding that it led to a decrease in the number of passenger cars imported. The country imported 8,800 cars in the first seven months of 2010, 4,80...

Silicone Lube Demand to Hit $250M
August 11, 2010U.S. demand for silicones in lubricant and grease applications will rise over 5 percent per year through 2014 to $250 million, Freedonia Group predicts. In volume terms, U.S. silicone demand for lubricants will grow 4.8 percent annually to 76 million pounds by 2014, driven by a rebound in machinery production, according to the new study, Silicones, from the Freedonia Group. While machinery production is the largest U.S. market for silicone lubricants and greases, other growing markets include ...

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report
August 11, 2010Activity in the first week of August surprised us. The U.S. Gulf registered a slight uptick, Europe saw both short-sea and long-haul business improve, while Asia too got in on the act with a bit more demand. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Business from the U.S. Gulf firmed up just sufficiently for a couple of ships to get fixed away to Europe, and a couple more managed to fill to Asia and South America. However, there is still a bunch of ships left open in the U.S. Gulf this month, and their owners are be...