Volume 8 Issue 2

NPRA: U.S. Lube Sales Keep Sliding

Total U.S. lubricant sales volumes in the third quarter of 2007 edged down 1.5 percent compared to the same period in 2006, according to the latest sales data from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. On MondayNPRA released its Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales for last year’s third quarter, showing that volumesfell across all but one major sector of the market compared to the same period in 2006, with decreases ranging from 1.5 to 8 percent. The report uses 2002 as the ba...

Delfin Snaps Up Chevron Site for $20M

Delfin Group USA, a division of Moscow-based Delfin Group Russia, recently acquired a 41.7 acre North Charleston, S.C., industrial site from Chevron for $20 million. Delfin plans to blend, package and distribute lubricating oils from the site, which has easy access to rail and shipping. Hagood Morrison, director of industrial brokerage for Colliers Keenan Inc., said the property was on the market for about five months. It was priced at $26 million, and sold for $20 million, Morrison told Lube Re...

Lube Distributor a Tasty Target

Private equity firm KRG Capital Partners on Monday said it completed the acquisition of Tri-County Petroleum Inc., aPennsylvania-based distributor of industrial and commercial lubricants. Terms were not disclosed. KRG said Tri-Countys market is ripe for continued consolidation among lubricants distributors. KRG said its investment in Tri-County will support continued organic and acquisitive growth of the company. Tri-County will continue to be managed by president Robert Black and general manage...

Dow Boosts Propylene Glycol Prices

Dow Europe GmbH last week announced a price increase on propylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze and in production of polyglycols. The company, whose business center is in Horgen, Switzerland, on Thursday said it would raise prices by 100 per metric ton in Europe, and by $150/mt in India, the Middle East and Africa on polypropylene glycol (industrial grade and USP/EP), dipropylene glycol (regular grade and LO+), and tripropylene glycol (regular and acrylate grades). This increase is a res...