Volume 10 Issue 33

Research Finds 16% of SM Oils are Flawed

Research by a leading independent testing company shows quality control issues for North American passenger car engine oils last year. Of 250 engine oils that claimed to meet the API SM specification, 16 percent were outside one or more of the specification limits identified on their labels, according to data provided to Lube Report by the Institute of Materials. Forty of the oil samples tested failed some part of the SM specification, said Mary Herrmann, IOM general manager in Midland, Mich. O...

Successful Sellers Target Frugal Buyers

CHICAGO – In post-recession America, lube packagers and marketers may face a flat-lining economy, lower vehicle replacement rates, fewer miles driven and frugal consumers changing their own oil, NPD Group projects. As we emerge from the recession, consumer behavior is changing, David Portalatin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD Automotive in Houston, told the Petroleum Packaging Council Fall Meeting here on Monday. Consumer confidence is important; it reflects future beha...

Russian Sales Halted to Central Asia?

Gazprom Neft will continue to supply the Kyrgyzstan market with lubricants, fuels and other petroleum products, the companys press service confirmed, denying reports in some local media that it had halted the exports to the Central Asian nation. Regarding the complicated political situation in the country, Gazprom Neft temporarily ceased the supply of lubricants and other petroleum products to Kyrgyzstan, RBK daily reported last week. In the future, the company would consider doing business in ...

Berenfield Containers Adds Plant

Berenfield Containers purchased a 112,000 square foot facility in Warren, Pa., which will produce new steel drums used for lubricants and chemicals. It is part of a rebuilding effort after a fire last year damaged the companys site in nearby Clarendon. The primary appeal of the former Rexnord facility was the location, size and configuration of the building as well as it being readily available, CEO and President Len Berenfield told Lube Report, adding that Rexnord manufactured flexible coupling...

Shell Aviation Picks UAE Distributor

Al Jaber Group will set up a distribution center in Dubai to distribute Shell Aviation lubricants in the United Arab Emirates. Shell will continue to extend commercial and technical support to the network through a joint customer service alliance with Al Jaber Group. The two companies may extend their agreement, which was announced Sunday, to cover other regional markets in the Middle East. Our partnership with Al Jaber Trading will help us secure the right quality supply chain for our custome...

Smittys Upgrades Lab

Smittys Supply has opened a new laboratory equipped to test incoming base oils and additives as well as blends for production, finished lubricants and new formulations. The lab was built within the confines of the existing 10 and a half acre building, in Roseland, La., a Smittys spokesman told Lube Report. The lab involves well over a dozen employees, including three full time lab employees and others whose jobs include lab support. We have so much more production and so much more sampling goin...

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

In contrast to the previous week, the second week of August reminded the shipping market how quiet things can be during summer. The main areas of excitement have been from the U.S. Gulf into the Far East and some of the routes out of Asia and the Middle East. U.S. GulfBy far the most important news from the U.S. Gulf is the sudden wave of cargoes that were fixed into Asia. Something like 60,000 tons of styrene and benzene/toluene/xylene was fixed with just one ship owner over the course of a cou...