The next passenger car motor oil upgrade is on its home stretch toward adoption, but independent lubricant blenders still arent satisfied with it. The Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association sent a letter to the ILSAC/Oil committee Dec. 4 saying it continues to have concerns about the GF-4 specification that the committee has drafted – and which is scheduled to hit the market next summer. The association repeated past complaints that its members may be locked out of the GF-4 busine...

Third-quarter lubricant sales volume in the United States dropped 4.3 percent from the same period of 2002, according to the latest statistics from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. The groups Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales, released Friday, showed that the trend for the past several years has been just as bleak. Sales in the automotive segment were off 2.3 percent from the third quarter of 2002. Sales in the industrial segment dropped 7.6 percent overall, while grease sal...

U.S.-based Master Chemical Corp. announced last month the opening of a 20,000-square-foot facility in China where it will manufacture metalworking fluids and recycling systems. The facility, which is located in Shanghai, cost $2 million and was built in less than a year. In addition to the manufacturing plant, it includes offices and a laboratory that will serve as Masters technical center for Asia operations. Master, which is headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio, said it built the facility to take...