Finished lubricant demand and overall base stock demand in Africa and the Middle East are each projected to grow at close to 2.5 percent per year from 2009 to 2019, according to Kline and Co. The Middle East is projected to grow slightly faster, at around 2.7 to 3 percent, said Milind Phadke, project manager for Little Falls, N.J.-based Kline’s Energy Practice, during a web presentation yesterday. Africa will grow at about 1.8 to 2 percent. The fundamental driver for finished lubricants ...

GS Caltex has signed a deal with Samsung C&T to jointly enter the Chinese industrial lubricants market, a GS Caltex official confirmed to Lube Report. The two South Korean companies plan to push for the business to sell industrial lubricants to Chinese companies in the steel, textile and chemical sectors via the five vendors of Samsung C&T in China, Seog Joo Kang, team leader of GS Caltexs lubricant business planning team, told Lube Report. In August, GS Caltex signed a similar agree...

MOSCOW – Russias lubricant market faces modest recovery in 2010, but due to the economic downturn lubricant demand contracted so heavily in 2009 that some base oil plants have halted operations. Speaking at Lubricants Russia 2010 conference held here last moth, InfoTeks general director Tamara Kandelaki said that Russias motor oils demand in 2009 declined 23 percent compared to the year before. Unlike the other developing economies (China for example) that reported one-digit demand growth,...

Repsol reached agreement with UMW Group to produce and distribute Repsol lubricants throughout China, Malaysia and other countries in the region, including Singapore, Brunei, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar. The five-year deal is part of Repsols international branding expansion plan. The Madrid, Spain-based company said it expects to market more than 20,000 tons of lubricants by the fifth year in China, Malaysia and the regions other countries, equivalent to more than 25 percent of its annual sale...

KIEV, Ukraine – The global grease industry can breathe easy. Despite soaring demand for lithium in batteries, there is ample lithium for future use by both the grease and automotive industries, Chemetall contends. The grease industry, a major user of lithium hydroxide in grease thickening systems, has watched with some concern as lithium-ion batteries consume growing volumes of the metal. Is there enough? This is the big question, Wolfgang Bos, global business manager for Chemetall Lithiu...

Business has resumed at a sedate pace in the U.S. after Thanksgiving. Europe has moved up a gear however, with more December cargoes being quoted. Asia too had a busy week, both domestically and on export markets. U.S. Gulf of Mexico It will take some time for things to settle down and a picture to emerge after the long Thanksgiving holiday. Space in general is undoubtedly tight in the area, but as the amount of new business quoted has not really been outstanding, freight levels have generally ...