U.S. markets are not busy at the moment, while Europe is understandably quiet amid public holidays. Demand is still poor in Asia. U.S. Gulf of Mexico There is not much new to comment on the U.S. at the moment. Cargo volumes on all the main routes are thin and consequently there are prompt ships open that are able to handle the majority of prompt requirements. Chemical activity in the Caribbean, for example, has been slight, and even small cargoes of clean petroleum have been lacking. Business...

Oxea plans a 25 percent expansion next year of oxo products capacity at its Bay City, Texas, plant. Products made at the facility include acids used to make lubricant esters. According to a May 17 news release, the company plans to bring the expansion online in the second half of 2014, in conjunction with a scheduled maintenance turn-around. That follows the successful conclusion of a recent feasibility study. This expansion will not only significantly increase the manufacturing capacity of the...

As drivers hang onto their vehicles longer, the trend of low-budget, do-it-yourself auto repair – including oil changes – is enduring despite an apparent upswing in the U.S. economy, a recent AutoMD online survey of car owners shows. The results of the 5,351-person survey, taken in December 2012 and January 2013, revealed that 90 percent of do-it-yourselfers (DIYers) – including the 37 percent of that group who reported improved personal finances over the past few years ̵...

DETROIT – Myriad forces are buffeting the metalworking fluid industry, making it difficult to know how formulations will look in the future. At the STLE conference earlier this month, John Burke of Houghton International, Valley Forge, Pa., reviewed the major drivers that will influence MWF formulation over the next 10 years and how fluids may look in the future. One of the major changes coming in the future factory is the reuse and recycling of fluid. The customer wants payback and low ...

As a result of growing passenger car sales, Russias motor oil market saw a steady increase in sales during the first half of 2012 compared to a year earlier, with sales volume reaching the 2008 pre-crisis level, according to a Moscow-based consultancy. The Russian passenger car oils market amounted to 138.5 million liters in the first half of 2012, a 3.6 percent increase over sales volume for 2011s first half, the consultancy Auto Marketing found. This growth is driven by an increase of the ...

MUMBAI, India – India will become the worlds second largest commercial vehicle market by 2015, and combined passenger car and commercial vehicle production is expected to grow more than 11 percent per year through 2021. Thats great news for Indias lube suppliers. Overall, Indias automotive lubricant market will grow at 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent per year in the next five years, R.N. Ghosal, managing director of Tide Water Oil Co. (India) Ltd. and director of Veedol International Ltd., tol...

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Finnish refiner Nestes role in the sales and marketing of API Group II & III base oils produced at Takreers plant at Ruwais, United Arab Emirates, has been cast into doubt following remarks from Takreer and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc). The plant, wholly owned by Adnoc, is set to produce up to 500,000 metric tons per year of Group III base oils as well as 100,000 t/y of Group II and is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of the year. Neste ...