Cognis Deutschland GmbH announced Wednesday that it has agreed to expand its oleochemicals joint venture with a Malaysian plantation owner by contributing wholly-owned operations, including oleochemicals plants in the United States and Germany. The Malaysian partner is Golden Hope Plantations Berhard, and the joint venture is Cognis Oleochemicals Sdn, which is based in Malaysia. Cognis recently formed its wholly owned oleochemicals operations into a separate business to prepare for just such a d...

Lubrizol Corp.s fortunes have taken a turn for the better, spurred in part by customers pre-buying and, one analyst speculated, by an accident at a competitors plant in Asia. The lubricant additive supplier recently lifted its earnings guidance for the second quarter of 2005 by double-digit rates. In a June 29 statement, the company said it now expects to record net earnings of between 82 cents and 86 cents per share for the three months ended June 30. On April 22, the companys most recent prior...

Dunlap, Mellor & Co. of Aston, Pa., a distributor of ConocoPhillips industrial lubricants, last week announced its acquisition of Fritch Lubricants of Bethlehem, Pa., in a deal worth $2 million. Fritch Lubricants, a division of heating oil company Fritch Inc. is a distributor of Citgo, Milacron, Houghton International and Quaker Chemical products to customers in eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. Dunlap Mellor supplies lubricants to the Philadelphia area, souther...

Chemfil Canada Ltd. announced last week that it is the new provider of chemical management services at the Chrysler Groups Windsor and Brampton, Ont., automotive manufacturing plants. Initial implementation of the agreement began in February and March. Chemfil Canada will provide the two facilities with all indirect materials and chemicals associated with auto manufacturing, including lubricants, solvents, maintenance products, janitorial and waste water treatment chemicals. The Windsor plant pr...