Covering 17,000 square meters, the expanded facilities cost Rs.135 crores and will supply domestic and global customers in the steel, textile, automotive and general industries. The unit will serve as a tribology test facility and product development site.

Jrg Matthias Grossmann, the Groups India Representative and CFO, said, This expanded manufacturing facility will lend impetus to the countrys Make in India initiative to serve customers with world-class lubrication and release solutions in both domestic and global markets, including, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim. The product development laboratories in Mysore will cater to Asia-Pacific markets for specialty lubricants, release agents and maintenance products.

Aviks Opens Russian Grease Plant

Ukrainian lube maker Aviks Group has launched a 9,000 metric ton per year grease production plant near Lipetsk, Russia. The 40 million ruble (U.S. $700,000) plant is located in Gryazi, Lipetsk oblast, and its primary products are lithium greases and industrial transmission oils, according to the company. I can confirm that the plant is up and running, and it is our largest capacity plant so far, a company spokesperson said. We are focused on supplying large industrial enterprises in such countries as Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, said Evgeny Zeltyakov, Aviks Groups commercial director.

At its Gryazi plant, Aviks Group plans to expand production of packaging for lubricants, greases and coolants. The company also produces different types of soluble oils and coolants.

Afton to Expand in Singapore

Afton Chemical Corp. announced that it will expand its new lubricant additives plant in Singapore, increasing its investment in the facility to about SG $400 million (U.S. $284 million). The company previously said that the first phase of the plant cost SG $100 million.

The company received approval from parent NewMarket Corp. to begin a second phase of construction on its new additives plant, which is set to commence operations later this year and begin sales of detergents next year. The expansion will include additional component production units for dispersants and zinc dithiophosphate antiwear agents, along with a new research and development center and increased staff. The second phase is scheduled for completion in 2017.

Upon completion of these two phases, the plant will have full capability to produce all of the engine oil additives we need for the Asia-Pacific region and will be scalable to allow Afton to grow as demand warrants, said Afton President Rob Shama. Longer term, additional units, such as specialty dispersants, may be added to produce other petroleum additive products.

Lubrizol to Use Daelim PIB

Daelim Industrial agreed to license technology for the manufacture of polyisobutylene to Lubrizol Corp. Lubrizol said it will make the chemicals at its existing factory in Deer Park, Texas, United States, and that production could begin in approximately three years.

Lubrizol already manufactures PIB at Deer Park – and at another factory in Le Havre, France – but its existing capacity is mostly for conventional PIB. Daelims technology allows a single plant to make both conventional and highly reactive PIB.

Through this agreement, Lubrizol will ensure its access to process technology that offers the company multiple benefits, Lubrizol Additives President Dan Sheets said in a press release. It provides Lubrizol formulating flexibility to meet the evolving performance needs of the global lubricant and fuel additives markets over time.

Conventional PIB is frequently used as a base stock (sometimes as a replacement for bright stock) and as a viscosity index improver. Highly reactive PIBs are used as chemical intermediates in the production of lubricant and fuel additives, particularly dispersants. Demand for dispersant lubricant additives is rising as governments around the world adopt vehicular pollution restrictions that curb emissions of particulate matter partly by dumping soot into engine sumps. Dispersants help keep that material from forming deposits on engine components.

Nynas Naphthenic Sales Down

Nynas recorded a steep second quarter drop in operational cash flow for its naphthenics unit due to unfortunate results from oil and currency hedges. The companys naphthenics business unit posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 49 million Swedish krona (U.S. $5.8 million) for the three months ended June 30, a drop of 73 percent from the same period of 2014. EBITDA for the companys other business unit, which supplies bitumen, fell 30 percent to 157 million krona.

The lower result is explained by the negative impact of oil and currency hedging activities, including unrealized market-to-market impact, President and CEO Gert Windroth stated in the companys interim report, referring to the combined results. Management did not discuss the hedging activities in detail in the report but said its overall operations would have had an operational profit of 503 million krona for the first six months of the year if not for the hedging activities, instead of the 274 million krona it actually reported.

Net sales for Nynas naphthenics business unit fell to 2.6 billion Swedish krona in the second quarter, down 20.3 percent from 3.3 billion krona in the year-earlier period. In its interim report, the company said that while sales volumes in naphthenics continued to develop positively in the quarter, sales in Europe and the Americas were stagnant, with negative effects from Russia and Ukraine as well as the economic recession in Brazil. Nynas AB as a whole posted net income of 47 million krona for the second quarter on net sales of 4.9 billion krona.

Gazprom Scores Factory-Fill Deal

Russias Gazpromneft Lubricants sealed a factory-fill agreement with Kazakh car and machinery maker Agromash Holding. Under the deal, Gazprom significantly increases its finished lube shipments to the car assembly enterprise, which makes such brands as Peugeot, Toyota, Hyundai, SsangYong and Iveco, along with Agromash. This deal includes supply of motor and hydraulic oils, antifreeze and other products for passenger and heavy-duty vehicles as well as for agricultural machinery, Gazpromneft Lubricants said in a press release. In the next five to six months, we plan to ship about 250 tons of our finished production.

Agromash Holding owns the only car assembly and agricultural machinery manufacturing plant in Kazakhstan. After Lukoil and Rosneft, Gazpromneft Lubricants is the third-largest lube marketer in Russia. In 2014, it held a 14 percent share of the countrys market, producing about 500,000 tons of base oils and lubricants. Also, it is a major lubricant supplier in Kazakhstan and other Central Asia countries, the company said.

BRB Enters JV with Ban Guan

BRB Singapore PTE Ltd. and Ban Guan Chemical announced the formation of a joint venture to produce Viscotech products under the name Viscotech Asia PTE Ltd. The 65:35 joint venture will be headquartered in Singapore and will begin operation in July 2016. Ban Guan will manufacture and supply dissolved polymers in bulk carriers, ISO tanks, IBCs and drums.

HCS Group Buys Out Castrol

The HCS Group completed its acquisition of Castrols 50 percent stake in the two companies Electrical Oil Services joint venture, making HCS the sole shareholder in the company based in Stanlow, U.K. The company said in a news release that the completed transaction continues the Groups internationalization strategy following the purchase of U.S. company Shu-Chem Holding Inc. in July. With the acquisition of Castrols shares, HCS strengthens its European presence in specialty chemicals and expands its business in the chemical product sector and supplements its oil recycling technology.

Total Expands Saudi Plant

Saudi Total has announced plans to expand its blending plant located at the Industrial Valley in King Abdullah Economic City with an investment of SR25 (U.S. $6.7) million to reach an annual capacity of 42,000 tons. This expansion will focus on the construction of an additional packaging line, in addition to all the support equipment related to production, packaging and distribution. The plant occupies 65,000 square meters.

Tide Water Plans Global Growth

Indias Tide Water Oil Co. is gearing up to enter South African and Sudanese markets with its Veedol automotive lubricants, license sales of its products in Bangladesh, and relaunch Veedol in the Americas through a new wholly owned subsidiary. Kolkata-based Tide Water formed a subsidiary to serve as its marketing licensee for both North American and South American markets. A company spokesman said that it appointed a tolling and blending agent in Canada, but declined to divulge the details.

Managing Director R. N. Ghosal said in an interview that the company considers South African markets tough to penetrate. Its strategy is to enter the continent through existing distributors based in the United Arab Emirates or by creating a network of new dealers and distributors pending talks that are currently under way. After establishing itself in South Africa and Sudan, the company will probe other African markets for possible expansion as well.

Ghosal said its too early to forecast sales volumes or revenues Tide Water might achieve in these markets. He said the Veedol brand is already sold in Europe, North America, Latin America and the Middle East through third-party manufacturing.

Engen Teams with SETL in Ghana

Engen Petroleum and Samir Engineering and Trading Co. Ltd./Quantum Petroleum announced SETLs appointment as official distributor of Engens full range of lubricants in Ghana. Engen Ghana Ltd. operates a network of 25 retail service stations and supplies fuels and lubricants to commercial customers. Henry Akwaboah, managing director of Engen Ghana, said the partnership will increase Engens lubricants footprint to a total of 54 retail service stations with the addition of SETLs/Quantum lubricants operation.

Samir Engineering, part of Samir Group, a national conglomerate based in Accra, has serviced Ghanas automotive market since 1963. Samir Group Managing Director and Chairman Nazem Khaled Karroum said the company will market Engen and Petronas lubricants through its 32 Quantum Petroleum branded retail sites countrywide.

Ukraine Foils Counterfeiters

Ukrainian authorities thwarted an organized group in the Rivne Oblast that had allegedly been making and selling fake motor oils under the labels of popular engine oil brands, the nations Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a press release. Local police arrested two residents of the city of Rivne, in western Ukraine, accused of selling fake lubricants in counterfeit canisters. During the investigation, law enforcement officers in plain clothes bought several samples of the counterfeited products for 30,000 hryvnia, (around U.S. $1,400), the ministry said.

Rivne police then raided the suspects premises and confiscated one ton of fluids in counterfeit 1- to 5-liter canisters. Oleg Lepekha, head of the ministrys cybercrime department, said the perpetrators were charged with unlawful use of trademarked brands and products. Authorities said they were still investigating the value of the fluids.

The Ukrainian lubricant market is flooded with fake products that are sold in cities at flea markets for used cars and auto parts. Police frequently discover rings of various sizes trading or making counterfeit automotive oils.

Nigerian Blenders, Tanker Drivers Spar

A Nigerian union of tanker drivers has raised charges for transporting base oils, causing a tiff between drivers and lubricant blenders. Previously, drivers with the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union charged 20 kobo (100 kobo constitute one Nigerian naira) per liter on a 33,000-liter tanker of base oil, amounting to 6,600 naira (U.S. $33) per tanker. Now the drivers are demanding one naira per liter, which increases total charges to 33,000 naira per tanker.

Emmanuel Ekpenyong, head of lubricants for Honeywell Oil and Gas, said that additional charges are understandable only if they apply to third-party dealers that sell base oils to lubricant blenders or transport them across Nigerian borders, not to blenders themselves. We insist that where there is no value addition – there should be no extra charges, he added.

Emeka Obidike, executive secretary of the Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria said, It is unacceptable because the tanker drivers did not import base oils for our members. Taiye Williams added that the tanker drivers are not imposing the same fee on major oil marketers, only on independent blenders. The association believes this is because independents utilize private tank farms.

Shell Divesting Tongyi Stake

Shell has agreed to sell its 75 percent stake in Tongyi Lubricants to United States-based equity firm The Carlyle Group and Chinese conglomerate Huos Group. The latter founded the company and held the other 25 percent. None of the parties disclosed sale price or details regarding the new division of ownership, but Carlyle will hold the majority stake, a company spokesman said in an interview.

Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle announced that the deal is expected to close in late 2015 or early 2016, pending regulatory procedures. Tongyi has blending plants in Beijing; Xianyang, Shaanxi province; and Wuxi, Jiangsu province. The company is comprised of Beijing Tongyi Petroleum Chemical Co. and Xianyang Tongyi Petroleum Co., which together produce and market lubricants under the Monarch brand.

Shell claims that it remains the largest foreign lube supplier in China, even after divesting Tongyi. Shell opened its second blending plant in Tianjin in June and also operates plants in Shanghai, Zhuhai and Hong Kong.