Fuchs Petrolub AG recently announced the sale of its polishing division, Lippert-Unipol, to Jason Inc., a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company specializing in surface treatment. The divestment marks Fuchs exit from the third of three non-core activities entered in the late 1980s and early 1990s. At one point the company thought it was a good idea to diversify into related areas, spokesman Hubertus Staerk told Lube Report yesterday. But it is expensive to keep those businesses competitive, so our s...

Chevron Global Lubricants announced last month that it has sold its 25-percent stake in Bulgarian lubricant marketer Prista Oil AD. The U.S. energy company said it sold its interest to Marsdale International LLC, which it described as a legal entity ofPrista. Prista, which is based in Sofia, claims to be the largest lube supplier in Bulgaria. Chevron acquired its share of the company through its 2001 merger with Texaco, which had bought into Prista the year before. In a July 7 news release, Chev...

Afton Chemical Corp. announced last week that it has completed the first part of a two-phase expansion at its factory in Sauget, Ill. The expansion, which is scheduled to be completed during the first quarter of 2007, will increase capacity for detergent additives by 20 percent. Officials said the chemical additive supplier undertook the project to accommodate growing demand from existing customers. Although the market remains tight, we are committed to supporting and growing with our current cu...

Agricultural supplier Growmark Inc. said last week that it has acquired independent lubricant blender McCollister and Co. for an undisclosed amount. The transactioncloses a chapter for the Council Bluffs, Iowa, company, which was founded by the McCollister family 76 years ago. In a July 25 announcement, Growmark said it made the purchase because it wanted to expand in the lubricants market. The Bloomington, Illinois-based farm cooperative has annual sales of more than $3 billion, and its operati...

Lubricant additive companies seem to be faring better than lube blenders these days – judging, that is, by new financial reports from three of the industrys biggest players. Afton Chemical Corp. and Lubrizols Lubricant Additive segment last week reported gains of 65 percent and 8 percent, respectively, in operating income for the quarter ended June 30. Valvoline, on the other hand, posted a loss of $10 million. Afton parent NewMarket Corp. said July 26 that its petroleum additive segment h...

Royal Dutch Shell is proceeding with its much anticipated gas-to-liquids project in Qatar, and the project now features a giant base oil plant. Shell and Qatar Petroleum announced Thursday that they have executed the final investment decision, essentially launching the project, which is dubbed Pearl. On the same day, Shells chief financial officer told reporters the projects base oil plant is now designed for three times the capacity that was previously stated, pegging it at upwards of 30,000 ba...