U.S. quick lubes posted higher average tickets despite a tough economy and growing oil drain intervals, and private-label motor oil products made inroads as a featured motor oil in quick lubes, National Oil & Lube News reported. Published in the September issue of NOLN, the 2012 Fast Lube Operators Survey compiles data from 4,182 facilities in all 50 U.S. states, looking at quick lubes operations, prices, demographics, employees, sales, products and services. On the less-than-30 stores si...

Metalworking fluids maker Chemetall yesterday announced plans to open a new $25 million chemical manufacturing plant on a 40-acre site in Michigan in October 2012. The plant in Blackman Township will cover 200,000 square feet to house administrative, manufacturing, warehouse operations and a physical testing laboratory. The site will produce more than 900 Chemetall products for applications in surface treatment, metal fabrication, cleaning and sanitizing. The labor force, along with strong su...

TPC Groups board approved a $265 million strategic project to produce up to 650 million pounds per year of isobutylene. It is used in making polyisobutylene (PIB), used as a chemical intermediate in lubricant additives and as base stocks in lubricants. The project includes refurbishment and restart of certain dehydrogenation assets at the companys Houston operations. Construction is scheduled to be complete in time to allow start-up late in the second half of 2014. To date, the company has spen...

Spanish ester producer I.Q. Lasem has been acquired by Nisshin OilliO Group, a Japanese supplier of plant and animal-based chemicals. Officials said the transaction helps Nisshin expand geographically and to enter new markets. IQL provided information about the transaction in a written statement last week but declined to disclose the price. IQL, which is based in the Barcelona suburb of Castellgali, supplies esters for lubricants and cosmetics. It employs 40 people and has annual turnover of 30...

The current metalworking market is an exciting place, said Karen Eisenhauer. We are teetering between technologies, with companies actively trying to pull their operations, applications and fluids into the 21st century. Eisenhauer, Chemetall Groups technical marketing manager for metalworking, based that assessment on the results of an in-depth customer survey the company conducted. She offered details about the survey in a presentation to the Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineer...

The U.S. market is not quite as over-tonnaged as it used to be, which has allowed rates to stabilise, but it is still fairly slow across most trade lanes. European markets are unchanged for the most part. Asia continues to flourish both domestically as well as on the export market. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Activity in the Gulf to Caribbean market is slow, both for chemicals as well as in clean petroleum. Space is a touch tighter, but has little impact on freight rates. The Gulf to the East Coast of...