Volume 14 Issue 8

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

European markets remain busy and Asia is starting to ramp up the amount of material to be shipped, while the U.S. markets are left in the doldrums. U.S. Gulf The U.S. is most certainly the slowest of the three main global markets, but it is hard to identify precisely why. Contractual demand is running pretty smoothly, and the ships that are on berth are typically three-quarters full. Spot demand is therefore not critical, although a contribution to filling the ship entirely would be welcomed, on...

Lube Co. Allegedly Destroyed by Employees

Silogram Lubricants of New York filed a complaint last month against more than a dozen former employees and several competitors, contending that the group, led by a Silogram vice president Stevan Jospey, entered into a criminal enterprise to destroy the lube manufacturers business through allegations ranging from unfair competition and trademark infringement to theft, fraud and sexual harassment. With headquarters in Bayonne, N.J., and a principal business location in Staten Island, N.Y., Silogr...

On Track: Hyundai-Shell's Group II Plant

A new player is scheduled this year to join the ranks of South Korean base oil suppliers. An API Group II plant under construction by Hyundai Oilbank and Shell is due to be finished in the second half of 2014, and could come onstream in September. The plant is located at Hyundai Oilbanks refinery in Daesan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It will have capacity to make 650,000 metric tons of base oil per year (13,000 barrels/day). We cant yet predict the exact date commercial product wil...

Bright Future for Russias Gear Oils

Russias automotive gear oil consumption could surge 27 percent to 79,400 metric tons by 2018, largely due to a boost in passenger car sales, a market study found. Moreover, if demand were to advance at a steady 3 to 7 percent annual rate of growth, the total could hit 83,100 tons by 2018, according to Moscow-based RPIs new study, Actual Gear Oil Consumption of the Russian Vehicle Fleet. Russias gear oil consumption will be driven primarily by passenger car sales, which are expected to grow by 44...

Gazprom Sees Harvest in Ag Lubes

Russian lube maker Gazprom Neft Lubricants has signed a factory-fill and lubricant supply deal with Rostselmash, a major manufacturer of agricultural machinery. Under the deal signed between Alexandar Trukhan, the lube companys general director, and Alexey Moshnenko, Rostselmashs marketing director, Gazprom will supply and develop new factory-fill products for the manufacturer, and both companies will do joint marketing projects. The deal also provides for Gazproms products to be offered more wi...

Briefly Noted

Indianapolis-based Polaris Laboratories opened a new laboratory in Poznan, Poland, to provide fluid analysis to European customers. Valvoline will partner with Slovenian commercial vehicle and bus manufacturer TAM Durabus, supplying engine, transmission and gear oils as well as anti-corrosion coatings for units sold throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa. LLK International, Lukoil’s lube arm, signed a three-year lubricants supply deal with Kuusakoski Sverige AB, a major Swedish recycler of metal-based products in northern Europe.