On a more positive note than of late, Asian domestic markets have picked up slightly. Unfortunately, the United States is still the worst of all markets, and Europe continues to drag its heels. U.S. Gulf The U.S. market was highly unlikely to rebound just before a long holiday weekend, and true to form, nothing really developed in any of the U.S. markets. Transatlantic eastbound tried to muster some interest in styrene, and indeed, 9,000 tons were booked from the U.S. Gulf to Turkey for around $...

Synthetics 13 percent share of the 33.5 million metric ton global lubricants market in 2013 – excluding process oil – will grow to 18 percent of the 38.7 million tons of total lubricant demand in 2023, said consultancy Kline & Co. Much of that has to do with OEM technical demand, new vehicle sales in Asia-Pacific, and industrial and commercial equipment modernization, George Morvey, industry manager for Klines energy practice, said during a web presentation June 11. The widespre...

As refiners around the world race to keep up with mounting demand for API Group II and III base stocks, the share of global refining capacity held by Group I has slipped to just 47 percent. Nameplate capacity for all types of mineral base oils reached 1.06 million barrels a day worldwide in mid-May, according to the 2014 Guide to Global Base Oil Refining from LubesnGreases magazine. Thats roughly 55 million metric tons a year. Industry experts such as Kline & Co., Fuchs Petrolub and SBA Con...

ExxonMobil opened its first lubricants products technology center in Europe, where it will collaborate with original equipment manufacturers and other European customers on testing, research and development. Located at ExxonMobils ESSO Deutschland GmbH campus in Hamburg, Germany, the research facility, known as its European Products Technology Center, will parallel the U.S.-based fuel and lubes giants primary product technology facility in Paulsboro, N.J. The new center will work closely with Ex...

Quaker Chemical Corp. reported that one of its employees died as the result of an explosion at General Motors Marion Metal Center in Marion, Ind., on July 1. Several other plant operators were also injured in the incident. A July 1 Associated Press news report in Marion cited a local fire chief attributing the accident to an explosion and subsequent leak of a chlorine dioxide tank used for water treatment, but that assessment may have been premature, Joseph Berquist, Quakers vice president and m...

Intrexon said its industrial products division achieved the bioconversion of methane to farnesene, a key building-block chemical for biobased lubricants and base oil. Traditional conversion platforms rely on costly thermochemical catalytic processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch method of carbon upgrading, or depend on available sugar-based technologies or plant-based feedstocks, which are expensive sources of carbon, Intrexon said in a news release. By utilizing natural gas as its supply source,...

Russian lube maker LLK International signed a lubricant supply deal with Mosenergo, Russias largest utility company, and introduced a key product for the countrys metallurgic industry. Valid through November 2014, the utility deal includes supply of 600 metric ton of Tp-22C-branded turbine oil that will be used for operation of Mosenergos steam turbines. These oils have antioxidant, anticorrosion, demulsifying and antifoam properties and are recommended for use in a number of turbines such as st...