Volume 13 Issue 6

ExMo to Grow Group II Capacity

ExxonMobil plans to expand API Group II and II+ EHC production capacity at its Baytown, Texas, base oil plant byearly 2015. The company said that, subject to funding and regulatory approval, construction on the project is scheduled to begin in late 2013. The expansion will significantly increase output of EHC Group II and Group II+ base stocks and will employ ExxonMobil proprietary technologies, including MSDW dewaxing catalyst, for improved low-temperature performance, the company stated on M...

Lukoil to Blend in Kazakhstan

Russian oil major Lukoil is building a 100,000 metric tons per year lubricants blending plant in Kazakhstan. According to an official Kazakh government web site, during a meeting with Kazakh President Nursaltan Nazarbayev, Lukoils president Vagit Alekperov said on Monday that his company is actively developing different projects in Kazakhstan. These projects include building a lubricants plant in the south of the country with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year. At the meeting, Lukoil’s ...

4Q Tough for SK, S-Oil

South Korean base oil refiners SK Lubricants and S-Oil reported decreases in operating income and revenues for the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared to a year earlier. Each companys full year operating income was also down from 2011, with only SK Lubricants posting an increase in revenue. SK Lubricants reported an operating loss of 28.6 billion South Korean won (U.S. $26.1 million) for the fourth quarter, down from a 94.5 billion won operating profit in the year-earlier period. For the full fisc...

PMC Snags Solid Lubes Business

PMC Group completed the acquisition of Dow Chemicals global methyl tin stabilizers and solid lubricants business, including a manufacturing facility in Ohio. Terms were not disclosed. The business includes polymer lubricants, certain types of polymer stabilizers and multi-component package product lines sold under brand names such as Advalube. According to Dows web site, Advalube comes in several variants. For example, one is used as a balanced ester lubricant for extrusion or injection moldin...

Filter Maker Plans Expansion

Baldwin Filters plans to break ground this spring on a new 400,000 square foot distribution center at its headquarters location in Nebraska. The company, which produces more than 650 lube filters for heavy-duty and automotive applications, said operations in its current 110,000 square foot distribution center, built in 1998, have exceeded capacity. The primary use of the expansion will be to improve distribution operations, consolidate off-site rental space and reorganize the current facility ...

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

Rates are unchanged across the board in the U.S. market. Europe continues to see an element of tightness on the long haul routes, and in Asia there is still a remarkable amount of demand prior to the holidays. U.S. Gulf of Mexico It has been another steady week on the U.S. market with no major changes to report. Gulf-to-Far East has not been particularly busy on the spot side of things, apart from some enquiries for larger volumes of aromatics, yet space is not readily available until second-ha...