Volume 8 Issue 27

BASF, PMC Biogenix Raise Prices

BASF last week announced it will raise prices in some regions for polyetheramines used in additives, and PMC Biogenix on Monday said it would increases prices for fatty amide, bisamide and metallic stearate products used in metalworking fluids. On June 24, BASF said that effective immediately, or as existing contracts permit, it will up prices for polyetheramines in Asia, Europe and South America by 5 to 10 percent, depending on the type of product. The company previously increased the prices f...

Philippines Hungry for MWF

Master Chemical Corp. has opened Master Chemical Fluid Solutions Philippines Inc. in metro Manila, Philippines, hoping to service a growing manufacturing and high-tech base and feed its appetite for coolants and metalworking fluids. Weve been trying to work into the area for the last year or so because there is such a large amount of industry there already, Master Chemical spokesman Mark Scherer told Lube Report. A lot of it is very high-tech and very demanding. Our products in the cutting and g...

SK Claims a First

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – SK Energy Co. said its Yubase Plus API Group III base oils, from its joint-venture refinery in Dumai, Indonesia, are the first higher viscosity index Group IIIs to reach the merchant market. C.W. Park, principal research scientist with Seoul, Koreas SK Energy, told the ICIS Asian Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here on June 19 that SKs Indonesian base oil refinery, a joint venture with Pertamina, began operations on May 1, two months ahead of schedule. Makin...

Alderox Moves to Memphis

Graceland will get a new neighbor this summer when Alderox Inc., a California-based manufacturer and marketer of non-stick release agents and lubricants for mining, asphalt and concrete operations, opens the doors to a new production facility in Memphis, Tenn. The company yesterday said it has entered into a five-year lease agreement for a 20,500 square foot facility that will support upcoming mining projects starting Aug. 1, boosting its annual production capability to 5 million gallons. Alder...

Graham Packaging to Go Public

Graham Packaging Co. will go public through a proposed $3.2 billion transaction involving Hicks Acquisition Co., a special purpose acquisition company. Graham provides blow-molded plastic containers for numerous lubricant brands, including Castrol, Chevron, Valvoline, Petrobras, Texaco, 76 Lubricants, Shell, Petro-Canada and Pennzoil. On Monday, Dallas-based Hicks Acquisition announced an agreement in principle, subject to an impending definitive agreement, where Graham will go public through a...

ILMA Seeks End to Price Squeeze

The Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association last week asked the Federal Trade Commission to include price squeeze – a major oil companys rapid escalation in base oil prices, followed by lengthy delays in raising its own finished lubricant prices – as manipulative under its rulemaking to interpret and enforce provisions of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. In comments submitted June 23 to the FTC, ILMA said the activity, whether intentional or not, squeezes the ma...