Welcome to the first edition of LubesnGreases EMEA in 2018. While the future is never certain, we can make a few forecasts for the new year. We can expect a strengthening of the global economy and crude prices, despite an increased U.S. rig count. This should bring overall base oil and lubricants growth of up to 1 percent, according to industry insiders, with a change in appetite in emerging markets and a decline in mature markets set to continue.

Additional API Group II and Group III capacity came on stream in 2017, with more expected in 2018 or early 2019 with ExxonMobils new Group II unit in Rotterdam. We can also expect oversupply to continue and further pressure on Group I capacity.

The watchwords for the coming year are sustainability and data security, two topics that readers can expect to see covered in these pages over the next 12 months. Sustainability can mean many things to different people, but here we can agree that it means going about business in a way that ensures the long-term future – not only for the industry but also for end users and the environment.

To ensure sustainability, stakeholders in the base oil and lubricants industry must also pay attention to staving off attacks to their operational technology through their information technology. As a consultant at an IT security company told me at a conference recently, many businesses and facilities in this industry are low-hanging fruit for hackers looking to snoop or steal data, disrupt operations or even demand ransoms.

Finally, fans of European lubricants statistics will be pleased to know that the UEIL data for 2015 and 2016 is available upon request. It presents information based on 49 independent variables gathered from 18 countries across the European Union, with more added every year, including markets outside the bloc.

And last but by no means least we say a fond farewell to Dick Beercheck, the outgoing managing editor of LubesnGreases EMEA. I hope that I can maintain his high standards and keep the interest of our readers piqued with the kinds of fresh features and engaging news that he brought you for the past four years.

Have a happy New Year.

– Simon Johns

simon@LubesnGreases.com