Naphthenic base oil producer Ergon began a turnaround in the first half of January at its Vicksburg, Miss., refinery, as it finalized its planned 6,500 barrel per day expansion, which will include production of bright stock. We actually are in a planned turnaround thats been on the books for over a year, Ergon Vice President James Mike Burnett Jr. told Lube Report. We havent been so concerned about the shutdown simply because November and December were low enough months in sales that we knew we...

For the quarter ending Dec. 31, lubricant blender Valvoline reported a slight decline in operating income and a rise in sales compared to the year-earlier period. The lubricants divisions of South Korean base oil refiners SK Energy and S-Oil each reported increases in quarterly operating profit and sales compared to 2007s fourth quarter, and for the full year compared to 2007. According to parent company Ashland, Valvoline reported operating income of $19 million for the three months ending Dec...

Chemtura Corp. has taken steps to realign its businesses, as it also strives to trim fixed costs, improve cash flow, and perhaps sell assets to pull itself out of a downward spiral. Last week, the Middlebury, Conn.-based specialty chemical company said it would realign as two business groups, Performance Products and Engineered Products, with its petroleum additives, lubricants and greases reporting under the former. Heading up the new Performance Products group is David Dickey, the corporation&...

Rohm and Haas Co. has obtained a Delaware courts permission for an expedited trial March 9 in its lawsuit to compel Dow Chemical to close on its acquisition of the specialty chemicals manufacturer. The trial is scheduled to take place in Georgetown, Del., and is expected to conclude that week, Rohm and Haas announced late yesterday. Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas filed its complaint Monday with the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware to enforce the agreement with Dow entered on July 1...

Spanjaard Ltd. said it will expand its manufacturing facilities in South Africa in part to meet increased demand in the maintenance lubricants arena. The company makes specialized lubricants and allied chemical products for industrial, marine and consumer use. A property adjoining the companys international head office in Wynberg, Johannesburg, will house additional aerosol filling lines, the company said, as well as warehousing facilities. The five-month expansion project, which started earli...

Shipping markets worldwide continue to struggle with a lack of demand. There have been bright spots, such as Transatlantic, and more business quoted from India and the Middle East Gulf*, but the overall feel is still one of desperation from ship owners. Even when more spot business is quoted, such as Europe/Asia, there is such a glut of tonnage that it will take several more weeks of sustained demand before the majority of vessels manage to fix cargoes. All this achieves is to move the surplus o...