The European market recorded a more satisfactory week with increased demand in several sectors. Asia too has been slowly but surely generating more business. It is just the U.S. market that has been in the doldrums, but even here there are faint signs that things are happening again. U.S. Gulf of Mexico The U.S. market has been slow for a long time, and there are still a large number of ships that continue to struggle to find any kind of cargo. However, this week there has been a very faint shi...

GF-6, the next passenger car engine oil category proposed for first licensing in January 2016, is taking shape. Unlike its predecessors, it will be divided into two subcategories, one backward compatible and one not. Predictably, the new category calls for improvements in fuel economy and fuel economy retention, engine oil robustness to protect engines in all global markets, and adjustment to chemical limits to allow improved performance while maintaining overall durability. But unlike previou...

Afton Chemical plans to invest more than $100 million to construct a new chemical additive manufacturing facility on Jurong Island, Singapore, that will initially make lubricant additives. Groundbreaking for the plant is scheduled for 2013s third quarter, and it is expected to be operational by mid-2015. In its announcement, Afton said the initial capacity will represent a modest increase in our overall global production. The plant will be scalable to allow the company to grow as demand warrant...

Freudenberg North America anticipates hiring more employees and investing in capital expenditures over the next two years in New Hampshire, including for its Kluber Lubrication facility in Londonderry. Freudenberg operates three companies – Kluber Lubrication, Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies and Trelleborg Vibracoustic, a joint venture with Trelleborg – has seven industrial facilities and 1,300 employees in the state. Kluber Lubrication is part of Freudenberg Chemical Specialti...

A July 6 incident that caused the evacuation of approximately 70 workers at the Evergreen Oil Inc. rerefinery in Newark, Calif., remains on the radar of state regulators as a consumer advocacy group continues to urge the shutdown of the plant. Originally reported as a leak of superheated oil, the incident actually involved the escape of ethylene glycol, a heat transferfluid used in the rerefining process. Thattriggered the emergency evacuation and prompted a warning to the community to expect a...

Lukoil is developing a 270,000 tons per year blending plant at its Volgograd refinery, trying to firmly hold its grip on the domestic and international lubricants markets. The Russian oil majors plant is larger than Shells 180,000 tons per year blending plant in Torzhok, which is scheduled to start streaming this summer and which the Dutch oil major boasted would be the biggest in its European network of lube plants. The initial capacity of the new [Volgograd] packaging production and lubrican...