Chemtura has announced plans to slim down its operations in Ontario, Canada by consolidating some of a leased grease production facilitys operations and folding a sulfonic acids production site into another location. The company said it wont renew the lease on its Oakville, Ontario, grease plant, and will consolidate some of its operations into other facilities. Oakville, which produces lithium and aluminum grease, was significantly underutilized and therefore not cost effective, Chairman and Ch...

Royal Dutch Shell signed a letter of intent last week to sell its refinery in Petit Couronne, France, including its biggest base oil plant in Europe, to Swiss refiner Petroplus Holdings AG. Effects on the lubricant market may be negligible, though, as a deal would apparently call for Shell to buy the output from the base oil plant. An industry consultant said it is not surprising that Shell would want to continue using base oils from Petit Couronne. Theyve increased their marketing [of finished ...

Through the efforts of U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), the National Ag-Based Lubricant Center at the University of Northern Iowa is on tap to receive $544,000 in the fiscal year 2008 Agriculture appropriations bill (H.R. 3161), passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday. Lou Honary, professor at the university and director of the center, said the money would help replace funding previously provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to aid expansion of research and development ope...

Lubricant suppliers Fuchs Petrolub, Quaker Chemical and Milacrons Industrial Fluids segment posted positive financial reports for the quarter ending June 30. Fuchs Petrolub AG, the worlds largest independent lubricant manufacturer, reported net profits of 31.2 million (U.S. $43 million) in the second quarter of 2007, a 26 percent increase over the year-ago period. Sales revenues reached 347.1 million, up 2 percent from 339.1 million in last years second quarter. Earnings per ordinary share for t...

Japanese lubricant manufacturer Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. has announced plans to more than double production at its Tianjin, China, plant to 60 million liters (15.6 million gallons) per year, up from 28 million liters (7.3 million gallons) per year, by fall 2008. To accommodate the increased capacity, the company plans to erect a building on a site adjacent to the present facility. The installation of four tanks and faster, more efficient equipment to fill drum cans are also planned. The expansion...

Motor oil carton supplier Altivity Packaging LLC and Graphic Packaging Corp. plan to merge to form a new company called Graphic Packaging Holding Co. with an estimated $4.4 billion value. Altivity is a privately held producer of folding cartons, and provides coated recycled boxboard and bag packaging. Graphic Packaging, based in Marietta, Ga., provides paperboard packaging for a wide variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. James Murphy, West Coast account man...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – While overall demand for naphthenic oils in the Asia/Pacific region will jump from 600,000 metric tons per year in 2005 to 920,000 t/y by 2010, the outlook differs significantly by country, says Nynas Naphthenics. Including announced new plants, Chinas naphthenic output will reach 2 million t/y over the next five years, making it the regions leader for both supply and demand. But in other Asian countries, naphthenics are nonstarters. The Americas- particularly Vene...