Total U.S. lubricant sales volumes in the second quarter of this year fell 7.2 percent compared to the same period of 2006, according to the latest sales data from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. The organization on Sept. 27 released its Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales showing that volumes for the second quarter fell across all major sectors of the market compared to the same period in 2006, with decreases ranging from 5.3 to 7.7 percent. The report uses 2002 as the base ...

A Maine state law that went into effect Oct. 1 imposes a fee of $1 to $3, depending on gross vehicle weight, on each motor oil change as part of an effort by the state legislature topay for cleanup of four former waste-oil sites that operated from 1965 to 1980. The sites are in Plymouth, Ellsworth, Casco and Presque Island, Maine. The Plymouth site was a federal Superfund Site. Known as the Portland/Bangor Waste Oil Services sites, they were contaminated when oil and solvents leaked into the sur...

Shell has expanded capacity for grease and lubricating oilproduction at its Thailand plantsto help serve increasing demand in the Asia-Pacific region, a Shell official said last week. Tim Ford, vice president of Lubricants Asia Pacific of Royal Dutch Shell, outlined the company’s activities in the region during interviews with media in Thailand Oct. 2. Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd. spokeswoman Sally Hepton confirmed that the expansions increased annual grease production capacity f...

Industrial and consumer packaging company Sonoco last week completed the purchase of the fiber containers and industrial plastic businesses of Austell, Ga.-based Caraustar Industries, Inc. Terms of the transaction were not made public but, according to Sonocos Vice President for Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs Robert Schrum, annual revenues from the acquisition will increase Sonocos approximately $4 billion in annual sales by $50 million. In addition, the companys profitability is expe...

Dubai-based Emarat announced last week that it has extended its Emojet joint venture agreement with the ExxonMobil Middle East Marketing Corp. for 10 years. The agreement will increase Emarats controlling interest in the joint venture from 60 percent to 65 percent. Launched in August 1992 by Emarat andMobil Corp., Emojet was created to market aviation fuels and lubricants at Dubai International Airport. Since that time it has served more than 32 international airline carriers. This has increase...

Snyder Industries has sold its intermediate bulk container rental fleet to Precision IBC as part of the companies newly formed strategic alliance, a teaming they believe will help them better respond to changing industry needs. Both companies supply containers used for lubricants and grease storage. Under the alliance announced Oct. 3, Snyder will exit the rental portion of the IBC market, while Precision IBC will serve as an exclusive master distributor of Snyder IBC products. The partnership p...

Lubricants manufacturer Kost USA Inc. recently announced its partnership with PetroLiance LLC to become the distributors exclusive supplier of a full line of coolants and antifreeze under the Medallion PlusGuard brand name, extending a relationship with one of the four companies that joined to form PetroLiance. PetroLiance is a lubricants and fuels distributor formed in June 2006 through consolidation of four companies: Boncosky Oil Co. near Chicago, Commercial Ullman Lubricants Co. of Ohio, Lub...

BASF recently announced price increases of up to 80 (U.S. $113) per metric ton for ethanolamines, intermediates used in lubricant manufacturing. The Ludwigshafen, Germany-based company announced it is raising prices worldwide effective immediately, or as existing contracts allow, by 30 per metric ton for monoethanolamines, by 80 per metric ton for diethanolamines and by 60 per metric ton for triethanolamines. BASF said it adjusted prices because of strong demand from all market segments, along w...