Quaker Chemical acquired specialty grease manufacturer Summit Lubricants for $30 million effective Dec. 31. The purchase price approximates Summits anticipated 2011 net sales. The transaction includes Summits commercial operations and two manufacturing plants in Batavia, N.Y. Summit Lubricants also toll-manufactures grease for third parties. It will retain its name and operate as a stand-alone subsidiary of Quaker. Summits specialty greases are sold through major grease distributors and used i...

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Shells 1.5 million metric tons per year of gas-to-liquids base stocks from its Pearl joint venture in Qatar will arrive in two trains, in 2011 and 2012. The first train is likely to be used internally, predicts Klines Bill Downey, but for the second train, watch for swaps, wax and secondary effects. Branded finished lubricant sales are Shells focus, Kline & Co. Vice President William Downey, Jr., told the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lubricants Conference he...

Sea-Land Chemicals newly formed subsidiary, Sea-Land Chemical Europe, will supply specialty chemicals to the European lubricants, cleaning and coatings markets. Our initial intent is to work with partners over there, Joseph Clayton, president of Westlake, Ohio-based Sea-Land Chemical, told Lube Report. For us, we see this as a step to both support our customers and our suppliers, and to also meet the need for identifying new sources as we go forward. Clayton explained that while the United Kin...

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – By the end of 2011 Brazils Lwart Lubrificantes will open the countrys first API Group II base oil plant, a new 150,000 cubic meter per year rerefinery. We will be the first company in Brazil to produce Group II base oil. The engineering is almost complete, Carlos Renato Trecenti, director president of Grupo Lwart, told the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here last month. Lwart has invested U.S. $150 million in the new plant, which will use tec...

Do-it-for-me oil changes and maintenance held the biggest share of Europes car service market in 2009, while rebounding global passenger car sales in 2010 promise a brighter lube market, according to market research firm GIPA. European car owners are primarily buying DIFM oil changes and maintenance while Russia is traditionally a do-it-yourself oil-change market, Alexander Gruzdev, head of GIPA Russia, told the Engine Oil and Automobile Chemicals 2010 conference in Moscow Nov. 22. In 2009 Fra...

Chrysler will recall 56,611 Dodge Ram 2011 model year pickup trucks because insufficient lubricant could lead to growling or grinding noises from, or seizure of, a rear axle bearing. The remedy involves increasing the rear axles lube oil fill. The specified volume of lube oil in the C235 rear axle is a nominal lube fill of 71 ounces; however, testing with 91 oz. of axle lube has shown to considerably improve lubrication and bearing heat management, Chrysler stated in its Dec. 23 defect informat...