The lack of open space continues to restrain the development of new business out of the U.S. Gulf. Europe is a little busier but is nevertheless still too quiet for the time of year. Asian volumes are steadily growing. U.S. Gulf Trade out of the U.S. Gulf has certainly been restricted by the shortage of vessel space. U.S. Gulf-to-Far East, for example, has the potential to be much busier, or at least more fixtures could have been done. Arbitrages have been open for paraxylene, styrene, glycols...

Chevron Oronite will soon be making more dispersants and detergents at its manufacturing plant in Gonfreville, France. A project to increase dispersant production capacity at Gonfreville by more than 25 percent recently reached full start up, and the company has broken ground on a project that will effectively double carboxylate and sulfonate detergent production capacity at the plant. Chevron Oronite declines to disclose actual plant capacities. These projects, as well as others in our suppl...

Additive manufacturer Vanderbilt Chemicals will move chemical production from its Bethel, Conn., location to its newly upgraded plant in Murray, Ky., by the end of 2014. Based in Norwalk, Conn., the wholly-owned subsidiary of R.T. Vanderbilt Holding Co., will transfer all production of specialty chemical additives for oils and greases to Murray following a $30 million expansion project that will be completed by the end of this year. The company will maintain land-use permits and continue operat...

Gulf Oil International appointed Paul DeVivo, CEO of wholly owned but independently operated subsidiary Houghton International, as its new CEO and head of both companies. DeVivo has been at the helm of U.S.-based metalworking fluids corporation Houghton International since February 2008 and will carry on this role – in addition to his new role – from the companys Valley Forge, Pa., headquarters. Until Sept. 23, 2013, the effective date of DeVivos appointment, a CEO role at Cayman I...

This past weeks third-quarter financial reports brought solid earnings for Afton Chemical and Quaker Chemical, while profits for South Korean base oil refiners SK Lubricants and S-Oil tumbled, compared to year-earlier results. Afton Chemical Afton Chemical posted operating profit of $95.5 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30, down less than 1 percent from $96.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. Additives segment revenue reached $577.6 million, up 5.5 percent from $547.7 million in 2012s th...

Fuchs Petrolub SE on Monday opened a blending plant in Yingkou, China, one of two that the company now operates in the country. The new facility replaces a smaller 25-year-old plant that was also located in Yingkou. The German lubricant manufacturer did not disclose the capacity of the new plant but said it is one of the companys largest blending plants and that it cost 24 million (U.S. $33 million) to build. Management said the project will allow the company to broaden its product offerings in...

Prista Recycling of Bulgaria recently broke ground on its first base oil rerefinery in Ukraine, a $60 million investment, claiming it is the first such plant in Eastern Europe. The rerefinery will be built on a 45-hectare plot in the industrial zone of Borodyanka, a small town in Kiev oblast. The project includes a vacuum distillation unit and hydro-treatment unit with total capacity to process 80,000 metric tons of waste oil annually, according to Prista. Our company’s total green inve...

FCC Environmental said it is on track to break ground on its $50 million rerefinery in Baltimore in the second quarter of 2014, and to commence operations in the second quarter of 2015. The rerefinery is expected to process about 40 million gallons of used motor oil annually. It is expected to produce about 27 million to 28 million gallons of rerefined base oil per year, FCC Environmental Vice President Vincent Glorioso told Lube Report. There are about two to two and a half months of civil en...