Volume 13 Issue 12

Smittys Sued over Hydraulic Fluid

A small business owner in Texas sued Smittys Supply and its distributor Atwood Distributing, alleging they sold defective, inadequately tested tractor hydraulic fluid that destroyed a logging tractor. Smittys Supply Inc. is a manufacturer of finished commercial lubricants in Louisiana, and Atwood Distributing L.P. is an Oklahoma-based seller of farm supplies. According to the lawsuit filed last month in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Texas, Harvey Heisler – individually and doing bus...

Gulf to Produce Lubes, Greases in UAE

Gulf Oil will begin producing greases and lubricants at its Ras Al-Khaimah plant in the United Arab Emirates tomorrow. The operation is slated to produce 10,800 metric t/y of grease and 20,000 metric t/y of lubricants. The plants production will serve the automotive and industrial markets in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, and eastern Europe, according to a press release sent to Lube Report. The cost of the project was not disclosed. Gulf’s International Vice President Frank Rut...

Gazprom Plans 6th Blending Plant

Gazprom plans to buy or build another lube plant in Scandinavia or the Baltic region, and to boost its lubricants business over the next 10 years, driven by the company’s lubricant demand growth in international markets. Our foreign lubricants sale analyses have shown that there is a great interest for the company’s premium products, Alexandar Truhan, Gazprom Neft-SMs general director, told Lube Report yesterday. Lubricants produced in our production facilities in Bari [Italy] and i...

Infineum Revamps Senior Leadership

Additives maker Infineum will restructure its corporate leadership team effective April 1, moving newly appointed sales and supply executive vice president Trevor Russell to Singapore. Infineums sales and supply divisions will come together, headed by Russell, previously vice president for sales and marketing. Russells relocation to Singapore reflects the growing importance of the Asia Pacific region for Infineum. Chris Locke, who previously managed Infineums crankcase lubricants business, wil...

Shell Finished Lube Prices to Rise

Shell Lubricants notified U.S. customers earlier this month that prices for Shell brand finished lubricants will generally increase by up to 4 percent, effective April 15. This adjustment is due in part to increasing costs of raw materials used in the production and delivery of our products, Shell stated in its March 11 letter to customers. In the letter, the company noted that in certain instances, the effective date of change and amount of price change for specific products may be at a later...

Chemtura Grows in Europe, China

Chemturas plans to bring on line high viscosity PAO capacity in the Netherlands and synthetic grease capacity in China are on target for the second half of 2013. Chemtura will benefit in the second half of this year from the European high viscosity PAO plant for synthetic lubricants in the Netherlands and the synthetic grease capacity coming on line later in the year in our Nantong, China facility, Chemtura President, CEO and Chairman Craig Rogerson said during a recent quarterly earnings confe...

Fake Lubes Flood Nigeria

The Lubricants Producers Association of Nigeria laments the upsurge of impure lubricants, while the countrys two regulatory agencies for lubricants say they are taking steps to fight the problem. The influx of imported sub-standard and adulterated finished lubricants into the country is on the increase at what could best be termed an alarming rate, said Emeka Obidike, executive secretary of Lupan, in a press statement. Most of the products in question are produced with recycled oils, with littl...

Chem Arrow Expands in Mexico

Los Angeles-based industrial lubricant maker Chem Arrow is expanding its presence in Mexico, where the manufacturing sector is experiencing a resurgence due to global economic changes. The independently owned company said its Southern California manufacturing facility, coupled with Mexicos growing economy, made Mexico the ideal location to begin its push for global expansion. The company has invested in local representation to help service existing customers and prospects in Mexico. That inclu...

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

It has been a very quiet week across all areas, partly due to the exodus of market participants to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers conference in San Antonio, and partly because of the approaching Easter holidays. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Trading has been suspended for a week or two across much of the Americas because of the AFPM conference. Typically affected have been the U.S. Gulf-to-Caribbean routes where the volumes of vegetable oil, tallow and yellow grease have been steady, b...