According to a July press release, the new software manages purchases, controls production, handles shipping and issues invoices. The company said the switch resulted in major difficulties that had a direct impact on business operations.

Despite the support of a well-known software company, we have still not succeeded in getting our production and delivery levels back to where we and our customers expect them to be, CEO Ernst Prost said.

Liqui Moly claims it is incurring extra costs because of the glitch. For example, containers can only be half filled and delivery vehicles have to waiter longer than planned to be loaded. Its not our customers fault that we are having problems, so we are doing everything we can to minimize the impact on them and to bear any additional costs, Prost said.

ExxonMobil Expands PAO Capacity

ExxonMobil announced it increased low-viscosity polyalphaolefin production capacity at its Gravenchon plant in France by 19 percent to 105,000 metric tons per year.

The company said in a press release that it undertook the 17,000 t/y expansion in order to meet growing demand for synthetic base stocks.

The oil major reported it had also improved its supply chain network through expanded sales hubs and upgraded carriers, as well as by placing more emphasis on efficient trucking, shipping and rail operations.

With this expansion, global PAO capacity sits at about 738,600 t/y, nearly all in the United States and Europe. In addition to the Gravenchon facility, ExxonMobil can make 196,000 t/y at its Baytown and Beaumont, Texas, plants, giving it about 40 percent of global capacity.

On Site

Polish oil refiner Orlen SA is building a 30,000 t/y per year propylene glycol and glycerol plant at its refinery in Trzebinia near Katowice.

Russian grease marketer Intesmo increased output by 25 percent in 2018, according to Lukoil, a joint venture partner in Intesmo with state-owned rail operator Russian Railways.

Chemicals giant BASF announced it has increased its global production capacity by nearly 24 percent of isononanoic acid and 2-ethylhexanoic acid. Esters made from the two acids are used for the production of synthetic base oils. The company did not disclose details about the cost of the expansion.

Hyogo, Japan-based Moresco Corp. opened a new lubricant plant in Ahmedabad, India. The facility has the capacity to produce 10,000 t/y of lubricants and hot melt adhesives and will primarily make lubes for hot forging and metal cutting fluids.

Perstorp announced yesterday its German site in Bruchhausen produced and sold in May for the first time its Voxtar renewable pentaerythritol, introduced in 2010 as the first renewable penta. The polyol can be used as a chemical building block in aviation turbine oils, transformer oils and refrigeration lubricants.

Doing Deals

Croda International Plc., a United Kingdom-based specialty chemicals company, announced the acquisition of Rewitec GmbH, a German additive producer. The companies did not disclose the price of the transaction.

Personnel Column

German specialty chemicals company Biesterfeld Spezialchemie appointed Pavlo Prykhodchenko to be the general manager of its Ukraine operations. He took over all Ukrainian business activities of the Biesterfeld Group in July.

Total named Marius Vermeulen sales director for lubricants in Germany. Vermeulen replaces Patrick Schnell.