The Lunar New Year festivities dulled all markets – not just those in Asia. Both Europe and the Americas were much quieter than normal. U.S. Gulf It has been one of the quietest weeks in the U.S. for a long time and none of the main trade lanes really showed any vigor. Transatlantic eastbound was one of the more interesting routes, with styrene showing up early in the week. Maybe one cargo of 5,000 metric tons was booked in the upper $40s per metric ton, but none of the other requirements ...

LONDON – Base oil producers head into 2015 facing a fundamental change in their economics, according to Valentina Serra-Holm, market director for Stockholm, Sweden-based NynasAB. In her opening remarks to the ICIS Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here last week, Serra-Holm noted that oil prices have fallen dramatically since they stood at a peak of U.S. $115 per barrel in June 2014, reaching a near six-year low of $46 per barrel in January. Several factors lie behind the rapid price ...

Hydrodec Group recently selected a site in Eastham, U.K. and began front-end engineering and design for its 75 million liters per year API Group II/II+ rerefinery, which will become its European headquarters upon completion in 2016. The new site is adjacent to the QE2 Dock at Eastham, which Hydrodec selected for its proximity to sea terminals and truck-accessible motorway. The site is also close to the home of Nustar, which has been a Hydrodec customer and shared storage facilities with it for m...

D-A Lubricant Co. is investing more than $3.9 million in equipment at its headquarters in Lebanon, Ind., where it eventually plans to move some of its production of Brad Penn Lubricants from Pennsylvania. Mike Protogere, D-A Lubricant CEO, clarified to Lube Report yesterday the company would only move production of some products from Bradford, Pa., not all, as was incorrectly stated in a Feb. 24 Indiana Economic Development Corp. press release. The corporate offices are moving there, and some of...

Russian lube marketer Gazpromneft-Lubricants and Israel-based Negev Distribution Lubricants signed a procurement deal. The deal envisages delivering around 2,000 tons of finished lubricants and technical fluids to Negev Distribution in the course of 2015. Gazpromneft already shipped to Israel 200 tons of its production. The assortment includes an array of our products under G-Energy and Gazpromneft brands, the Russian oil major said in its Feb. 17 news release. It includes motor and transmission...

Independent blender Fuchs Petrolub AG posted earnings of 220 million (U.S. $250.8 million) for 2014, up 6.4 percent from 218.6 million in 2013. Sales revenue during 2014 reached 1.9 billion, up 2 percent. For 2014, earnings per ordinary share amounted to 1.57, according to provisional figures released Feb. 20. Mannheim, Germany-based Fuchs anticipates further increases of both sales revenues and earnings for financial year 2015. This is based on forecasts for 2015 that indicate stronger growth i...

Italian oil major Eni has appointed a lubricant distributor in Peru, a step toward its goal of capturing 5 percent of that market. Eni named Partequipos last year to distribute its lubricants in Peru and Columbia. Eni officials did not respond to requests for comment, but a Partequipos executive said the Colombian based company won the contract because of its ties to Perus heavy machinery market. This project is based on the knowledge of the local market and positioning it in the field of heavy ...