Volume 3 Issue 95

It's Official: Lube Sales Stank in 2003

Lubricant sales volumes in the United States fell 3.6 percent in 2003, according to the latest annual report from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. It marked the third consecutive year of declining demand in the worlds biggest lube market. The 2003 Report on U.S. Lubricating Oil and Wax Sales, released Oct. 21, showed total demand of 2.5 billion gallons last year. Its comparative data also indicated that demand fell across all major categories. Sales of automotive lubricants w...

Payday's Swell for Lube Sales Execs

Sales and marketing managers who work for U.S. lubricant manufacturing companies earn an average of nearly $105,000 a year, up 13 percent from 2002 and about 37 percent higher than the $76,866 average reported by their counterparts working for lube distributors, according to the latest Lubricants Industry Salary Survey conducted by Lubes’n’Greases magazine. The average sales/marketing manager responding to the 2004 survey is 49 years old and has amassed 20 years of relevant work expe...

Valvoline Profit Bounces 21 Percent

A sagging lubricant market did little to hold back Valvoline during its recently completed fiscal year. Parent company Ashland Inc. reported Monday that the motor oil marketers operating profit rose 21 percent in the 12-month period ended Sept. 30. Officials attributed the improvement to the companys continued ability to increase sales of premium products, such as MaxLife motor oil for older cars. For the fourth quarter, premium products accounted for 22.9 percent of sales revenue, compared with...

Australia Loses Another Base Oil Plant

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group last month closed its base oil plant in Geelong, Australia, leaving the continent with just one domestic base oil producer. Shells is one of three Australian plants to close in the past two years, turning the country from a net exporter to a net importer of base oils. Caltex operates the sole remaining plant, in Kurnell, outside of Sydney. Still, at least one market observer said the latest closure probably will not affect the market much. Shell was keeping most of it...