General Motors has been hard at work developing a global engine oil specification for its vehicles — and last week the American Petroleum Institute got a look at some possible certification costs that oil marketers may face under the new scheme. On Feb. 3, the API Lubricants Committee held a special Standards Meeting in Houston, where Kevin Ferrick, API’s manager for engine oil licensing, presented the automaker’s new Global Engine Oil Standard (GEOS) to the group. The meeting...

While Lubrizols additives segment posted solid earnings for the quarter ending Dec. 31, the company overall announced a $243 million loss – including $325 million in special charges related to its coatings and polymers product lines. Lubrizol also last week began laying off 170 employees as part of efforts to cut costs. In a statement issued Thursday about the job cuts, Lubrizol said about 130 of the affected employees are in the United States, mainly at its Wickliffe and Brecksville, Ohi...

While it still wants to restrict exposures to straight mineral oil mist, the American Council of Governmental Industrial Hygienists has decided its proposed restriction does not apply to metalworking fluids, a significant conclusion for fluid manufacturers and users. In a Feb. 1 letter to the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association, ACGIH Science Manager Ryan Peltier said, Note that the proposed TLV [threshold limit value] does not apply to mineral oils in metalworking fluids, because o...

Afton Chemical parent NewMarket Corp. on Feb. 4 said its petroleum additives segmented posted a $32.5 million operating profit for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2008, up 13 percent from $28.7 million in the year-earlier period. Operating income for Cibas plastic additives segment (including lube additives) dropped 11 percent for the full year 2008, compared to 2007. During 2008, Afton recorded a $130 million operating profit total, up from $129.4 million for 2007. NewMarket President and CEO Thom...

A pump failure led to an overflow of 65,000 gallons of waste oil from two collection pits at Caterpillars Joliet, Ill., facility Sunday, and some of the spill reached the nearby Des Plaines River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported. The waste oil consisted of used hydraulic fluids and cutting oils, according to Maggie Carson, public information officer for the Illinois EPA. The release occurred when an electric pump in the facilitys waste oil/water separation system failed on Su...

Arizona Chemical is idling its Port St. Joe, Fla., tall oil plant for two weeks starting last Friday, citing economic conditions. Market projections show softer demand for tall oil fatty acids and rosin products in the first quarter, so they decided to take this opportunity to bring down the refinery to address some maintenance issues, Arizona Chemical spokeswoman Alison Abernathy told Lube Report. We expect this temporary curtailment will affect approximately 50 of the plants 76 employees, wh...

Dorf Ketal Chemicals LLC has picked Bossco Industries to distribute its lubricant and plastic additives product lines in the southcentral United States. Under the arrangement, Bossco Industries will distribute PX lubricant additives for the industrial and metalworking lubricant formulators market. Bossco will also distribute Clearlink and Unilink products in the coatings market. Houston-based Bossco is a regional agent and distributor of chemical raw materials. Whats appealing for us is that t...

Most markets have again registered a slight increase in the amount of business seen over the past week. The additional volume, however, has not been significant enough to influence the freight levels so far. Supply of tonnage in most areas of the world is still plentiful, and ship owners dare not risk inflating their rate ideas whilst there is so much open space around. It would need a combined rise in demand across the oil, chemical, vegetable oil and acid sectors to draw off enough of the su...