Volume 32, Issue 1
January 20262025 ended with price cuts, a rare event for the year: price cuts. • Some expect a rise this year in Group II and III demand. As safety regulations drive up costs, some formulators adapt existing chemistries rather than introduce new ones. • Tax policy made Italy a hotspot for biobased lubricants. Also, updates on European Union regulations affecting lubes. • Over two decades the base oil industry has just evolved but remade itself into a market where bigger, more capital-intensive plant produce higher quality fluids. • A recent study found distinct differences between the recipes for success followed by blending plants in North and South America.