Fuchs Petrolub AG acquired MS Fluid Technologies via its U.S. subsidiary Fuchs Lubricants Co. effective Oct. 1. Indianapolis-based MS Fluids products include drawing and stamping fluids, coolants, and metal finishing products. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. All MS Fluid Technology brands will be retained, Fuchs Lubricants Co. spokeswoman Dawn Peloso told Lube Report. The product lines will continue after the acquisition. Fuchs Lubricants Co. is based in Harvey, Ill. According to it...

Additives International will lease Lockhart Chemical Co.s 13-acre Flint, Mich., production facility, gaining new capabilities in calcium and barium sulfonate-based products, along with more capacity for soluble bases and emulsifiers. The company will also begin making rust preventives based on oxidized waxes and petrolatums. The deal is a very long-term lease with an option to purchase, according to Greg Jorjorian, president and chairman of Evanston, Ill.-based Additives International. The pric...

Spectrum Corp. has acquired American Lubricating Co., bringing together two Tennessee lubricant blenders who share a focus on the outdoor power equipment and lawn and garden market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Spectrum is an independent compounder, packager and marketer of private-label and brand name specialty lubricants, including two-cycle engine oil, bar and chain oil, small engine oil and hydraulic oil. R. Kent Farmer, Spectrum president and CEO, said he has known the own...

U.S. lubricant manufacturing companies pay their plant managers an average of $124,500 a year, while U.S. lube distributors pay their counterparts an average of $77,400, according to the latest Lubricants Industry Salary Survey conducted by LubesnGreasesmagazine. The typical plant manager who responded to the survey is 47.5 years old, and has more than 20 years of industry experience. He or she has been with the current employer for 13.5 years and in the current job for almost nine years, super...

Under names like the paraffin mafia and the Blauer Salon, cartel members meet up at ritzy hotel bars throughout Europe to plot fixing of prices and market allocations. Scenes for The Godfather: Part IV? No – just some of the details in the European Commissions announcement last week of fines against nine paraffin wax producers for participating in a cartel over a 13-year period. The European Commission on Oct. 1 said it imposed fines totaling more than 676 million (U.S. $912 million) on n...