High Velocity Alternative Energy has received a contract to sell up to $300,000 per month – $3.6 million annually – in private-label motor oil and antifreeze products to Talat Hussein Oil Trading Co. in Amman, Jordan. According to High Velocitys Sept. 3 announcement, the C.O.D. orders are secured by a letter of credit issued by the Jordan Commercial Bank of Amman, Jordan. The distributor added that Hussein Oil indicated there is a great demand for U.S.-made lubricants and antifreeze...

RohMax Oil Additives recently announced a price increase on its lubricant additives, and BASF said it would raise prices in some regions for polyetheramines used in additives. On Aug. 28 RohMax Oil Additives said it would hike prices worldwide effective Oct. 1 for its entire lubricant additives product range, upping them by 8 percent to double-digit percentages, depending on product. A few increases reach the 15 percent range, and in individual cases even above 15 percent, Waldemar Bartoschik, ...

Castrol Industrial North America last week said it plans to restructure its business, citing unprecedented increases in raw materials, packaging and freight costs in North America that are affecting many of its business operations. Separately, the company announced the loss of Todd Mitchell, Americas regional president, whose Aug. 19 death was very unexpected and very sudden. The cause was not disclosed. Mitchell is survived by his wife and three young sons. The company said it will provide sup...

Nonconventional base stocks – polyalphaolefins, phosphate esters, polyalkylene glycols, Group III hydrocracked oils and others – are a growing part of the lubricants scene worldwide. And as they gain in volume and importance, production of such base stocks is becoming increasingly concentrated by region and ownership. The past two years saw numerous shifts in owners of synthetic base stock assets, including the purchase of PAG and esters giant Uniquema by Croda, Chemtura’s add...

Total U.S. lubricant sales volumes in the first quarter of 2008 declined 4.2 percent compared to the same period in 2007, according to the latest sales data from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. On Sept. 2, NPRA released its Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales for the first quarter of 2008, showing that volumes slid across all but one major sector of the market – process oils – compared to the same period in 2007, with decreases ranging from 1.5 to 11.5 percent. ...