Adrian Brown is away. His column will reappear next week. Adrian Brown is a senior market analyst for chemicals and base oils with SSY Shipbrokers, London, can be reached atfix@ssychems.comor +44 12 0750 7507. Information about SSY can be found atwww.ssyonline.com. In the Houston office,Steve Rosenthalof SSY’s Chemical Tanker Department can be reached directly at +1 (713) 652-2700 and Jordi Maymi in Singapore can be reached at +65 6854-7127. [ad-row-1] [ad-row-2] [ad-row-3]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Meeting here yesterday, the American Petroleum Institutes Lubricants Group voted unanimously to move forward on establishing a supplemental passenger car engine oil category, as requested by the auto industry. In addition to supplying all the protections of current API SN and ILSAC GF-5 products, this as-yet-unnamed supplemental category would immediately help protect turbocharged engines against the catastrophic phenomenon known as low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI), without...

Fresh off its launch of Group III production at its used oil rerefinery in Troeglitz, Germany, Puraglobe outlined its marketing and used oil feedstock collection plans in an interview with Lube Report. Puraglobe President and CEO Andreas Schueppel said in an email that the company performed its Group III start-up in mid-June after an upgrade that converted 50 percent of its capacity at the location from Group II to Group III. The plant now has 50,000 t/y of Group II and 50,000 t/y of Group III p...

Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. will roll out three new Bel-Ray branded product lines for passenger car motor oils, commercial lubricants and industrial lubricants by the first quarter of 2018, replacing some products sold under the Quantum brand, the company announced on Thursday. The new product lines will replace many Quantum brand products, though Calumets more popular offerings – including Quantum Economy AW Hydraulic Fluids, Quantum Economy Tractor Hydraulic 303, and Quantum...

Although the electrification of the global vehicle fleet has the potential to reduce lubricant consumption dramatically, it will remain limited due to different challenges, according to market research firm IHS Markit. A fully electric Tesla Model 3 consumes only 3.6 kilograms of factory fill lubricants over a 10-year period, or 90 percent less than the well-established hybrid of Toyota Prius, and only a fraction of what Ford F-150, a full size pickup, consumes, Tatyana Stepanova, a senior analy...

Cosans lubricant business segment Moove reported net revenue of 511.5 million Brazilian reais (U.S. $161.4 million) for its second quarter, up 5 percent from the same period last year, thanks to higher sales volume. Lubricant sales volume for the quarter was 83,000 metric tons, a 6 percent jump from last year. In 2Q17 Moove recorded sales volume growth in all markets, a result of the companys business strategy focused on increasing customer base and share among Brazils automakers, besides the la...

Last week, the National Lubricating Grease Institute officially launched a research grants program to encourage inquiry into the mysteries of lubricating grease. The NLGI Research Grants Program is intended to stimulate universities and nonprofit institutes to dive into high-level, original research into any aspect of grease. According to the institutes president, David Como of Dow Corning, NLGI is ready to accept research proposals online from now through Sept. 15. Thats a tight deadline, yes, ...