The lunar holiday effectively slowed most of the business in the Asian market causing some incidental impact on European and U.S markets, but other regions had a reasonably busy week. U.S. Gulf of Mexico There has been sustained interest in vessel space from the U. S Gulf to the Far East, typically with cargoes such as styrene, aromatics, phenol, acetone, acrylonitrile and glycols. However, very few new deals could be processed due to the holidays in Asia, but it demonstrates the depth of poten...

OSTFILDERN, Germany – European lubricant blenders have long benefited from the regions surplus of base oils. Not only has the excess supply made Europe a net exporter that helps meet base oil needs in other regions, it also has helped tamp down prices within Europe. But that luxury is fading and will likely cease to exist in the future, according to Stephan Baumgaertel, executive director of the German Lubricant Manufacturers Association, who spoke Jan. 11 at the International Colloquium ...

Lubricant blender Valvoline posted $47 million operating income for the three months ending Dec. 31, down almost 30 percent from $67 million in the year-earlier period, while sales totaled $475 million, up 6.8 percent from the year-ago quarter. Total lubricant sales volume reached 36.7 million gallons for the quarter (the first quarter of Ashlands fiscal year), down 9 percent from the year-ago period, according to parent company Ashland. With Ashlands transformation into a specialty chemical c...

Petroplus Holdings AG will file for insolvency, and the refiner was granted administration orders in the United Kingdom. Petroplus said Friday it would consider selling its Petit Couronne refinery, which has a 7,300 barrels per day base oil plant. The company yesterday cited failed negotiations with its lenders to reopen credit lines. The lenders filed acceleration notices, and Petroplus went into default under its $1.75 billion in notes and bonds. Petroplus said it will initially file for ins...

Lubrimetal of Italy will invest $1.9 million over the next three years developing a manufacturing facility in North Carolina for production of wet and dry lubricants for steel and non-ferrous wire drawing. The new facility, expected to create 19 jobs in Granite Falls, Caldwell County, will allow Lubrimetal to meet growing market demand in North America for wire drawing lubricants, according to the Jan. 20 announcement by the North Carolina governors office. Wire drawing is a metalworking proces...