An agreement among Chrysler, Shell Lubricants and Fiats Magneti Marelli enables Chryslers dealership network to service competitive vehicles and grow the number of dealers offering fast-lube-like express services. Magneti Marelli brings 26 product lines and more than 3,000 part numbers to Chryslers Mopar product portfolio (Mopar is Chryslers parts and service business). Chrysler said this will enable its dealerships to also service General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia ve...

Silgan Holdings will acquire Graham Packaging in a cash and stock transaction valued at $19.56 per share or $4.1 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2011. Graham Packaging has been a leader in the automotive lubricants packaging market since the industrys conversion to plastic packaging more than 25 years ago. According to its web site, Graham provides blow-molded plastic containers for numerous lubricant brands, such as BPs Castrol, Chevron, Citgo, ExxonMobil, Ashlands...

MOSCOW – Russias 2.5 million tons per year of base oil production will grow 20 percent by 2015 and 34 percent by 2020, reflecting changes in the countrys economic, environmental and technical progress, a market observer said. Speaking at the World Refining Associations Base Oil and Lubricants in Russia and the CIS conference here on April 6, InfoTeks general director Tamara Kandelaki said that in spite of a predicteddecline in the working-age population, growth in gross domestic product w...

The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association released its 2011 Lubricating Oil and Wax Capacities Report, with data on base oil and wax plants in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Base oil capacity in the United States totaled 214,100 barrels per day on Jan. 1, according to NPRA, down slightly from 214,500 b/d at the start of 2010. U.S. API Group I capacity stood at 63,600 b/d, unchanged from 2010, according to NPRAs report. Group II and III capacity totaled 102,400 b/d, down...

JGC Indonesia was awarded a contract to construct a lubricants production plant with 40,000 kiloliters per year capacity in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, for joint venture PT. JX Nippon Oil and Energy Lubricants Indonesia. The plant is scheduled for completion in March 2012, according to JGC. The contract calls for engineering, procurement, and construction for the lubricant plant, as well as commissioning support. The purpose of the project is to provide PT. JX Nippon Oil & Energy Lubric...

Chemicals supplier Kyowa Hakko Chemical Americas, whose products include fatty acids and diols, began operations in Schaumberg, Ill., on April 1. Kyowa Hakko Chemical Americas chemicals include synthetic fatty acids, higher alcohols, specialty diols, functional monomers, solvents and other high-performance chemicals based on proprietary synthesis technologies. Imported from Japan, they are used in lubricants, surfactants, adhesives, paint and coatings, cosmetics and toiletries, among others. W...

The U.S. market is busy and freights are firming, except routes to Asia. European routes are doing reasonably well, apart from the leg to Asia. Asian domestic markets are subdued, and export trades are slower too. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Demand is looking positive on the U.S. Gulf-to-Caribbean trade lane. Space is sparse to some destinations within the Caribbean, and even the short run into Mexico is seeing freights lift by a dollar or so. Routes to the east coast of South America are especially...