Operatives from the Philippines Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group and the Northern Police District Office confiscated about P50 million (U.S. $1 million) of substandard automotive and industrial lubricants after a raid of two warehouses Dec. 3, according to a report by the countrys state-run news wire service. The anti-smuggling group said the raided warehouses in Malabon, Philippines, belonged to a company known as Planet Lubricant/Tribology/Lub Mart, owned by Patrick Chua, according to the De...

Sea-Land Chemical Co. has signed an agreement to distribute Polartechs Actrachem brand of specialty chemical additives in the Unites States, including lubricant polymers for metalworking applications and lubricant additives for metal process fluids. Joseph Clayton, Sea-Land president, said the Westlake, Ohio-based company has been distributing Polartech additives out of the United Kingdom for a number of years. It already represents the companys Polartech and Petromix brands. Polartech only sel...

NEW YORK – Premium quality lubricants are gaining share in Latin Americas 3 million metric ton market, but base stock supply is not keeping up, the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lubricants Conference heard last week. The regions current base oil deficit will continue as blenders look abroad to meet their needs. Jorge A. Manes, Latin American industry liaison manager for Infineum Brasil based in Rio de Janeiro, provided an overview of the Latin American lubricant market, with a focus o...

U.S. lubricant sales volumes in the third quarter of this year fell 10 percent compared to the same period in 2007, according to the latest sales data from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. The automotive manufacturing sectors woes could be one likely cause, an industry expert said. The NPRAs Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales released Dec. 2 showed volumes in decline across all sectors compared to a year earlier, with the steepest decreases in grease and process oils. The r...

With prices for crude and base oil dropping, distributors of finished lubricants have been asking, Whens the other shoe going to drop for us? The time appears to be now, as several major oil companies and independent suppliers have informed customers of finished lubricant price cuts in recent weeks, some as much as $1.30 per gallon. Independents have been dropping prices by as much as 80 cents to $1.30/gal, an official with a midwestern distributor told Lube Report. Its definitely overdue, this...