Global production of lubricating greases reached 2.57 million pounds in 2016, according to data released by the National Lubricating Grease Institute. Thats 1.4 percent more than the 2.54 million pounds recorded in 2015, and marks the second consecutive year that grease manufacturing has nudged upward.

Tyler Jark, chairman of the institutes production survey committee, presented the results to the groups 84th annual meeting in Olympic Valley, California. The production reported in 2016 is getting close to the peak year of 2013, when reported output came to just over 2.6 million pounds, he said.

Lithium soap-thickened greases, including both conventional and complex types, continue to lead the world market. They accounted for 75 percent of all greases manufactured in 2016, according to the NLGI Grease Production Survey Report, and production totaled 1.94 billion pounds, versus 1.88 billion pounds in 2015.

That slight uptick in share was not anticipated because prices for lithium-derived raw materials have surged wildly over the past two years. Many expected to see lithiums grip on the market loosen, not become tighter. I was a little surprised to see this slight increase, given all the cost and availability issues with lithium supply, conceded Jark, who is with Lubricating Specialties Co. in Pico Rivera, California.

He noted that the second most popular type of greases were based on calcium soaps, which comprised 10 percent of global production, followed by polyurea greases at 6 percent and aluminum complex greases with 3 percent. Various other types – using sodium and other metallic soaps, clay and nonsoap thickeners – account for the balance.

Jark noted that China by far represents the largest grease producing region. In fact, with 899.6 million pounds churned out in 2016, China is almost surpassing all of North America and Europe combined. North American grease production was reported at 462.6 million pounds and Europes at 475.3 million.

This years survey collected data from 226 companies that operate 250 lubricating grease facilities around the world. On a global basis, that means each of the participating plants produced an average of 10.3 million pounds.

However, direct comparisons of year-on-year data should be avoided because the pool of reporting companies can shift from year to year. Seven companies that contributed data for 2015 production did not submit data for 2016, for example, but 10 new participants did report their volume data for those years, making the survey a robust picture of grease manufacturing activity.

Manufacturers are also asked to identify the type of base oil used, and 88 percent of the participants responded with this data. From this, we can see that the vast amount of production – 92 percent – still relies on conventional base oils, Jark reported. Four percent of the worlds greases (85 million pounds) were made with synthetic base oils, and another 3 percent used semisynthetics. Respondents who answered this question also said they made a total of 11.3 million pounds of biobased greases, or just 0.5 percent of all reported volumes.

Jark stressed that the survey is conducted under rules of strict nondisclosure by the independent research and consulting firm Grease Technology Solutions. Respondents voluntarily supply their production data directly to Chuck Coe of GTS, who compiles the answers and composes the report, he explained. No one at NLGI ever sees or has access to individual company data, only the aggregated results.

The full report includes prior-year data going back to 2013 and is available to download at www.nlgi.org. NLGI member companies can obtain a secure pdf of the report at no cost, while nonmembers will pay a fee to get it.

Wrapping up, Jark announced that the full report also will be made available, on a paid basis only, in an Excel format that allows users to sort the data and track trends by region, year, thickener type and other parameters.