Trade has remained muted across all main regions because commodity prices have still not bottomed out and buyers are taking their time before confirming purchases. U.S. Gulf There has not been too much going on in the Americas since the start of the year. U.S. Gulf-to-Far East has not seen much firm business, although contractual nominations are strong. Space can be found on a selection of January loaders. The main products seem to be ethanol and acrylonitrile, with styrene demand falling by the...

ExxonMobil and Phillips 66 each informed customers this week of finished lubricant price cuts that will take effect in early February. Along with reductions announced by Chevron last month, these are the first finished lubricant markdowns by oil majors since crude oil prices started a steep descent in the second half of last year. Base oil prices have undergone a rapid series of decreases during that time, and lubricant distributors and end-users have clamored for finished products to follow sui...

The Hamina, Finland, rerefinery formerly owned by L&T Recoil Oy and EcoStream is back in operation under new owner STR Tecoil Ltd. We are up and running, Tecoil Development Director Pekko Kohonen told Lube Report last week. According to Tecoils website, the rerefinery will handle 70,000 metric tons of used lubricants annually for an output of 50,000 tons per year of high quality base oils. The rerefinery produces four API Group II+ rerefined base oil cuts: N40, N100, N150 and N200. Side pro...

Chevron Oronite announced that it doubled detergent capacity at its plant in Gonfreville, France, that it will build a carboxylate production facility at its Singapore plant, and that it will upgrade and expand in Belle Chasse, La. The San Ramon, Calif.-based chemical additive maker announced Monday completion of its detergent production expansion at Gonfreville, a project that it unveiled in October 2013. The facility can now produce more carboxylates and overbased sulfonate, which Oronite sell...

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network announced Jan. 8 that it will begin supplying and marketing marine lubricants and fuels in Germany this month. Operations during this launch will include the physical supply of marine fuels and lubricants to all German ports and will be based out of Hamburg, the largest port in Germany and the second-largest container terminal in Europe. To support its local German operations, Aegean chartered two modern, double-hull bunkering barges previously under charter to OW...

WD-40 Co. reported $10.8 million in net income for the quarter ending Nov. 30, up 6 percent from a year earlier. For the WD-40, 3-in-One and Blue Works lubricants segment, worldwide net sales reached $84.9 million in net sales for its first fiscal quarter, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. San Diego-based WD-40s fiscal year goes from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31. Compared to year-earlier figures, fiscal first-quarter sales in the Americas rose 2 percent to $44.8 million, sales in the Europ...