European coastal routes are not quite as busy as before, whereas deep-sea routes remain strong. U.S. and Asian markets are pretty much unchanged in terms of activity, and freight levels are unaltered. U.S. Gulf The U.S. Gulf-to-Far East route has been much busier, with at least 50,000 metric tons of styrene fixed and a further 20,000 tons or so still pending. In addition, there have been some sizeable chunks of base oils discussed, as well as ethanol, phenol, acrylonitrile, and glycols. Space is...

Colas Group plans to stop base oil production at its plant in Dunkerque, France, around the end of March, a company source confirmed to Lube Report. The plant has capacity to produce 270,000 metric tons per year of API Group I and 25,000 t/y of Group III base stocks. In its mid-November 2014 quarterly earnings statement, the road paving company detailed preliminary plans. At the end of October 2014, the executive management of Societe de la Raffinerie de Dunkerque (SRD), a 100 percent wholly-own...

Afton Chemical, S-Oils base oil segment and BPs lubricant business all reported fourth quarter profits that were higher than the same period in 2013. Afton Chemical Afton Chemical had an operating profit of $85.5 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, up 6.9 percent from $80 million a year earlier. For all of 2014, Afton reported $385.1 million in operating profit, up 2.6 percent from $375.3 million for 2013. Petroleum additives segment revenue reached almost $548 million for the fourth quarter...

Russian oil major Lukoil started an expansion of its lube manufacturing plant in Vienna to bolster its logistics and supply base in Central and Western Europe. Construction on the site at the Danube river oil port of Lobau began Jan. 29 in a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov. The upgrade includes new mooring and storage facilities that will improve production logistics while easing supply of European lubricant customers, the company said. We are not only upgrad...

RelaDyne acquired lubricant distributors in Oklahoma and Indiana and recently secured $75 million in financing to support its continued growth. One of the acquisitions, Fentress Oil Co., has facilities in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Ada in Oklahoma, making it contiguous with RelaDynes Gulf Coast region, which includes Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. According to Fentress website, it distributes Shell, Valvoline, Mystik, Mach4, Citgo, Petro-Canada and Air BP brand lubricants, along with fuels and rel...