BRB International announced Monday start-up of manufacturing at its joint venture with SWD Lubricants GmbH – a Duisburg, Germany, plant that will dissolve BRB viscosity modifiers into base oil diluent. BRB, a chemical supplier based in Ittervoort, Netherlands, said the new plant should help it grow by expanding its ability to supply ready-to-use viscosity modifiers. The joint venture operates as Viscotech GmbH. BRB chose to enter this joint venture with SWD because of the superb infrastr...

Global lubricant consumption is expected to experience a 9 percent average annual decline between 2007 and 2009, but should return to 2007 levels by 2012, consultancy Kline and Co. projects in a recent study that examines the impact of the global recession on the lubricants industry. Milind Phadke, project manager for Little Falls, N.J.-based Klines Energy Practice, discussed the companys study, The Outlook for the Global Lubricants Industry 2009: The Impact of Recession during a web presentati...

Shell in Malaysia has invested in a wax plant expansion project at its gas-to-liquids plant in Bintulu. Malaysian media reports have estimated the investment at 319 million Malaysia Ringgits (U.S. $90 million). The wax plant expansion project is a key development project for Shell MDS as it will enable us to double our current wax output, said Dick Benschop, managing director of Shell MDS (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, in a Sept. 2 statement. There is a growing market for this unique product. We will stre...

Heritage-Crystal Clean has begun exploring entry into the used lubricating oil rerefining business, saying it plans to spend up to $5 million on the initiative during the next year. The companys management team includes former Safety-Kleen executives and engineers with experience in designing and building rerefineries. Elgin, Ill.-based Heritage-Crystal Clean sells used oil collected by its branches as fuel to electric utilities and asphalt plants. The company services close to 40,000 customers...

Dow has increased prices for oxygenated solvents, while BASF has raised prices for intermediates used in manufacturing lubricants and Kraton Polymers announced price hikes for polymers used in lubricants. Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co. on Thursday said it will raise list and off-list prices in North America for several types of oxygenated solvents by 3 cents to 10 cents per pound effective Oct. 1, or as contracts allow. In a related move, Dow announced a mid-September off-list increase o...

To solve the world’s thorniest lubrication problems, formulators often turn to the tailor-made chemistries of unconventional base stocks. Known by acronyms such as PAO, PIB, PAG and others, these are the backbone molecules for most synthetic lubricants. The new 2009 Nonconventional Base Stocks Guide from Lubes’n’Greases magazine provides a unique perspective of these fluids and their suppliers. This annually updated guide identifies 185 plants worldwide that make seven major ty...

It has been a very sedentary market over the past week or two. Europe is flat with a wide selection of ships available in most directions. The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is slow too with rates dipping on a couple of routes. Asian rates too are reported to be under downwards pressure. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Freights have nudged downwards on the U.S. Gulf to Brazil and Argentina run and also on the U.S. Gulf to the Caribbean trades. Shipping 3,000 tons of base oil from Houston to northern Brazil would prob...