Volume 16 Issue 38

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

Rates have begun to swing back up on a number of routes globally as the summer lull recedes. However, there is still a long way to go, and some routes, such as the European coastal market remain pretty weak. U.S. Gulf As predicted last week, the Far East destination is one of the routes on which rates have started to increase. September space has virtually all gone, yet new demand continues to appear. Rates have gone from the real lows of $39 per metric ton for 5,000-ton parcels over the course ...

Mixed Bag for Fast Lubes

Although United States quick lubes average ticket totals crossed the $71 mark and the average number of oil changes and cars serviced daily increased, average yearly sales per store declined by almost 7 percent from 2015, National Oil & Lube News reported. Published in NOLNs September issue, the 2016 Fast Lube Operators Survey compiled data from 5,837 facilities – the most participants since more than 4,000 facilities for its 2007 survey – in all 50 U.S. states, examining quick l...

Small Growth Forecast for Industrial Lubricants

CHICAGO – Although global demand for finished lubricants will grow minimally over the next five years, parts of the industry do offer opportunity for marketers, especially premium lubes used by several industries, a consultant from Kline & Co. forecast at the North American Industrial Lubricants Congress last week. The Parsippany, New Jersey, firm estimated that finished lubricant demand worldwide was 39.4 million tons in 2015 and projected a compound annual growth rate of less than 1...

TPCs Baytown Plant Goes to SI Group

SI Group acquired TPC Groups Baytown, Texas facility, including manufacturing assets for nonene and tetramer, propylene oligomers that are used as intermediates in production of lube oil additives and other products. About 20 to 25 employees work at the Baytown facility, said SI Group Spokeswoman Tara Morgan, and plans for whether they will move over to SI Group will be disclosed upon closing of the acquisition agreement. The agreement also includes an on-site terminal. The nonene and tetramer m...

SGS Adds Oil Condition Monitoring in Russia

SGS Oil, Gas and Chemicals Services expanded its laboratory in St. Petersburg, Russia, to include oil condition monitoring services, aiming to attract new customers in a range of Russian industries. Switzerland, Geneva-based SGS has over 50 offices and laboratories in Russia, including a Moscow headquarters for its business in the country, which operates as SGS Vostok Ltd. The recently upgraded lab in St. Petersburg is the only one that started to offer more specific methods of used oil analysis...

Hydrodec Trims Losses

Hydrodec Group reported an overall loss – including discontinued operations – of $5.3 million for the six months ending June 30, compared to an $8.4 million loss for 2015s first half. Revenues rebounded from a year earlier, up almost 150 percent. Revenues from the companys continuing core rerefining business rose 148 percent to $8.1 million, compared to $3.3 million for the year-earlier period. Hydrodec attributed the improvement to full commissioning of its new transformer oil reref...

Briefly Noted

Original Parts Warehouse of Vaughan, Ontario, will distribute lubricants for Total Canada. Effective Oct. 1, Oxea will raise prices on NPG by 100 per metric ton and TMP by 80/t in Europe. The chemicals are used in synthetic lubricants.