Europe remains pretty much unchanged with a steady flow of requirements. Asia, however, is languishing amidst muted activity. The United States, too, is going through a slow phase right now. U.S. Gulf Some owners seem unconvinced that demand will pick up along the route into the Far East, and those who have space left to fill for the end of May or early June are willing to cut their freight ideas even further. We heard of one owner who was willing to accept $45 per metric ton for 5,000 tons of s...

A Canadian proposal to lower application rates for a formaldehyde-free biocide based on a mixture known as CMIT/MIT has drawn opposition over concerns it would reduce the biocides effectiveness in metalworking fluids. The mixture is 5-chloro-2-methyl-2H-isothiazol-3-one and 2-methyl-2H-isothiazol-3-one (CMIT/MIT), which had historically been approved for use in Canada at 15 parts per million. The Pesticide Management Regulatory Agencys decision to reduce the maximum CMIT/MIT application rate was...

Fuchs Petrolub SE opened a $26 million grease plant, research lab and warehouse near Chicago Monday. The company did not disclose the capacity of the plant but said in its 2016 annual report that it will produce 29 specialty greases. The new plant, which is located close to Chicagos South Side in Harvey, Illinois, serves North Americas automotive, heavy-duty truck, construction, rail and off-road markets. Photo courtesy of Fuchs Fuchs’ Illinois grease plant will be the company’s sec...

Cosans lubricant production and distribution arm – renamed Moove last year – posted a decrease in net revenue, but an increase in sales volume during its first quarter, and Nynas reported a decrease in operational cash flow for its naphthenic unit. Cosan Moove reported a net revenue of Brazilian reais 446.7 million ($141.5 million) for its first quarter, down roughly 7 percent from a year earlier. The company attributed this decrease to a lower exchange rate during the period, though...

Valvoline is stepping onto the red carpet alongside Paramount Pictures’ favorite talking robots as the official synthetic motor oil of the Transformers: the Last Knight movie, in theaters later this month. Joining a growing trend of paid product placements on the silver screen, Valvoline entered a sponsorship agreement, though Valvoline did not detail the exposure the company will get from the agreement or disclose any financial details. The agreement has an international reach, but is foc...

HELSINKI, FINLAND – Several working groups reported progress in developing test methods for specific purposes during the European Lubricating Grease Institutes annual meeting here last week. Joe Kaperick of Afton Chemical, chair of the Working Group on Particle Evaluation, reported that the group is evaluating the Hegman Gauge for pinpointing in grease the number and size of particles, which can contaminate lubricants and potentially cause damage. The device, which is commonly used in the ...

Omnia Holdings agreed last week to acquire Umongo Petroleum, saying Omnia will provide a better springboard for Umongos base oil and lube additive distribution business to expand in sub-Saharan Africa. Those activities include former distributor Orbichem Petrochemicals, which Umongo acquired last month. There are significant, potentially attractive and synergistic opportunities to service customers in South Africa and across the African continent, leveraging the combined presence in complementar...