Total recently inaugurated two lubricants blending plants, one on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, and the other in Tianjin in northern China.The two new plants will allow Total to keep pace with the strong growth in its sales of automotive and industrial lubricants, a market that is forecast to grow by 20 percent to 2022, Philippe Charleux, vice president of Total Lubricants, said in a news post on Totals web site. They will secure our supply in the fast-growing Africa/Middle East and Asia re...

Ashlands Valvoline business posted slight decreases in operating income and sales for the quarter ending Sept. 30, while Fuchs Petrolub posted mixed results, and Chemturas petroleum additives segment reported increases, compared to year-earlier numbers.ValvolineOperating income for Ashland Consumer Markets (Valvoline) during the companys fourth fiscal quarter – which ended Sept. 30 – was $73 million, having turned slightly south from $74 million recorded on the same date last year. T...

Idemitsu Lube India Pvt Ltd. began production Oct. 30 at its new 2.6 billion rupee (U.S. $41.8 million) blending plant in India, and targets sales to Japanese-branded motorcycle and auto dealers. Completed in August, the plant has 70 million liters per year production capacity and is situated on 78,000 square meters in the Patalganga Industrial Estate area in the state of Maharashtra, according to an Oct. 30 Idemitsu news release. With the construction of its own blending plant, the company plan...

Heritage-Crystal Clean agreed this week to buy four branches of Universal Lubricants subsidiary RS Used Oil Services in a deal that could increase the rerefiners annual used oil collection volume by 8 million gallons.While HCC chose not to disclose the transaction cost, Chief Financial Officer Mark DeVita said in a Nov. 4 press release that the acquisition was the largest in the companys history, and was paid for in cash.Spanning Indiana, Ohio, and northern Illinois, the service routes included ...

Russian lube marketer Gazpromneft Lubricants launched two products in the Dominican Republic in a bid to penetrate the South American market.The Russians partner in the Caribbean island state is Lucho & Compania S.R.L., one of the biggest automotive suppliers in the country. This partnership started in September, when the Dominicans bought a batch of 23 tons of our G-Energy and Gazpromneft-branded products, Gazpromneft Lubricants said in a press release. Our short-term plan is for this part...

Government owned Oman Oil Marketing Co. launched its own lubricants brand in the Sultanate of Oman.Products offered under the brand include automotive, commercial and specialty lubricants and greases.In creating the lubricants range, we coupled our innate understanding of our customers lifestyles as well as our knowledge of Omans diverse terrain and weather conditions with extensive research and development, Nabeel Al Ruwaidhi, Oman Oils general manager of commercial, lubricants, marine aviation...

Europe fared a little better over the past week. Asian markets also continue to see new growth, while the U.S. remains the main hotspot of activity. U.S. Gulf The year-end momentum continues to build out of the U.S. Gulf. U.S. Gulf-to-Far East has been very busy, with styrene being one of the main products in demand. Aromatics, glycols, ethylene dichloride and base oils have also been competing for vessel space. Vessel space is very scarce for November, and rates are firm and seem to be moving...

Warren Oil has completed an addition to its West Memphis, Ark., facility that will enable it to produce 10 million pounds of grease per year.The new grease unit will allow the Dunn N.C.-based lube manufacturer to complete its portfolio, said founder, president and CEO Irvin Warren in a recent press release, rounding out its offerings to the heavy duty, automotive, industrial and agricultural sectors.As the economy suffered in the past decade, so did the demand for grease, Hank Bird, Warrens vice...