HCCI Buys FCC Environmental
Used oil collector and rerefiner Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc. said it has acquired fellow oil recycler FCC Environmental for $90 million. The seller was Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas S.A. (FCC), of Madrid, Spain. Joseph Chalhoub, president and CEO of HCCI, noted that FCC Environmental had sales of approximately $160 million during fiscal 2013, and it operates 34 facilities in the eastern United States. FCCs used oil collection network is expected to bring HCCI an additional 54 million gallons a year, he added.
HCCI built and operates a used oil rerefinery in Indianapolis that can make 2,400 barrels a day of API Group II base stock. FCC Environmental had been aiming to build an 1,800 b/d rerefinery in Baltimore, but had not begun construction yet; that project is unlikely to go forward now unless U.S. demand for rerefining capacity picks up, Heritage-Crystal Clean said in a mid-October call with investors and analysts. However, CFO Mark DeVita of HCCI has said his company expects to see synergies worth about $20 million annually from the integration of FCC, which should be complete within a year.
$150M in Vicksburg Upgrades
Ergon is investing $150 million in upgrades at its Vicksburg, Miss., naphthenic base oil refinery, including enhancements to its crude distillation unit, modifications to its base oil hydrotreaters and expansion of storage facilities to accommodate new product offerings.
These investments will allow Ergon to further diversify its product portfolio, said Don Davis, president of Ergon Refining Inc. The upgrades will allow Ergon to produce next-generation low aromatic products and high quality bright stocks. The investment will also enable the refinery to process a broader range of crude oils from across the globe.
The project will optimize equipment installed during the refinerys $250 million expansion in 2009. Ergon completed expansions at the plant in 2006, 2009 and 2010 to reach the present capacity of 22,000 barrels per day.
Ergon has invested more than $600 million into its specialty base oil refineries in Vicksburg and in Newell, W. Va., over the past 10 years, the company noted, and now has terminals in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
J.V. Base Oil Plant Debuts
Hyundai and Shell announced the formal opening of their joint venture API Group II plant in South Korea on Sept. 25. The plant, operating as Hyundai and Shell Base Oil Co., is a 60/40 joint venture of Hyundai OilBank, Koreas fourth-largest refiner, and Dutch Shell Petroleum, respectively. It is located at Hyundai OilBanks refinery in Daesan and has capacity to make 13,000 barrels a day of Group II base oils. The plant broke ground in January 2013, was mechanically complete in first-half 2014, and started up in late July.
Most of the plants volumes will ship to Asia and the Pacific Rim and some will be kept for use in Korea, with a large portion earmarked for Shells lubricant blending plant in Pusan. Shell will take the majority of the output initially, but some will also go to Hyundai Oilbank, which plans to market engine oil for heavy equipment and industrial machinery, and launched its XTeer brand of automotive engine oil last year.
This brings to nine the number of Shell base oil plants worldwide – for now. One, a joint venture with CPC in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, will close late this year, while another in Pernis, Netherlands, is slated to close in 2016.
JX Nippon Grows in Alabama
Spurred by growing production and sales of Japanese- and Korean-brand cars in the United States – and foreseeing greater demand for motor oils and transmission fluids to meet their needs – JX Nippon Oil & Energy USA plans to increase its lubricants blending capacity in Alabama from 34 million liters per year to 56 million liters per year, by the end of 2015. Its Childersburg, Ala., plant currently produces industrial and automobile lubricants and 800 tons per year of grease. It was built in 2006 to be close to U.S. factories operated by Toyota, Honda and Hyundai, which JX Nippons parent supplies in Asia.
Japanese models accounted for 35 percent of U.S. sales of light-duty vehicles in the first half of 2013, according to Experian Automotive, and Korean manufacturers claimed an 8 percent share during the same period.
Singapore Lands XOM Grease Plant
ExxonMobil broke ground in September on a new grease plant in Singapore, adjacent to its lubricant plant and massive Jurong refinery there. Scheduled to begin operating by 2016, this will be ExxonMobils second grease plant in Asia-Pacific. It will make Mobilith SHC, Mobilgrease XHP and Mobilux specialty greases for high-speed bearings, drive gear boxes, food machinery, electric motors and other applications.
The company did not disclose the new plants planned capacity, but said it will be larger than the one it operates in Tianjin, China.
Tianhe Stock Resumes Trading
Shares of Chinese lubricant additives supplier Tianhe Chemicals Group resumed trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after a monthlong suspension triggered by an accusation that its June initial public offering was a fraud. Tianhe insists that its business is above board, and that the report by the shadowy group Anonymous Analytics was a malicious attempt to manipulate its stock price so others could profit from short-sale positions.
In late August, the Anonymous Analytics report alleged that Tianhe had defrauded investors by exaggerating its profitability and overstating the size of its fluorochemicals business. The Hong Kong exchange suspended trading of the stock on Sept. 2 until the company could respond to the claims. After Tianhe issued statements on Oct. 8 and 10 refuting the charges, the exchange allowed trading to resume, whereupon the stock traded at 1.56 Hong Kong dollars (U.S. $0.20) per share, down 35 percent from HKD 2.31 the day before trading was suspended. Tianhes CEO Wei Xuan went on to buy 63 million shares himself in a bid to restore investor confidence, and said the company was weighing legal action against the Anonymous group. Also on Oct. 8, Tianhe reported that its gross profit for the third quarter of 2014 was RMB 1.22 billion ($200.4 million), an increase of 44 percent from the same period of last year.
Georgia Acts on Bad Oils
The Georgia Department of Agricultures Fuel and Measures Division has issued a stop-sale order on eight motor oils and automatic transmission fluids and one antifreeze sold under the U.S. Economy, Bullseye, Super, Ever Clear and Black Knight brands. The agency tested the products and found they did not meet industry standards and specifications. An Oct. 7 report by the Petroleum Quality Institute of America noted that stop-sale orders have also been issued for some of these products by the states of Missouri, Michigan, Alabama and North Carolina. See www.pqiamerica.com for a complete list of the barred products.
Briefly Noted
Specialty chemicals manufacturer Trecora Resources closed at the end of September on its $73 million acquisition of Schumann/Steiers Texas subsidiary, SSI Chusei, which manufactures polyethylene wax and wax derivatives.
Distributor PetroChoice acquired LubriCorp and opened a hub in Ohio last month. The company did not disclose costs, but said the moves will help expand its reach to most of the southeastern United States and additional areas in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.
Germany-based biobased metalworking fluids manufacturer Oemeta said it plans to build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Utah. Old World Industries will distribute Q8Oils stationary gas engine oils in the United States.
Faces in the News
Superior Lubricants Co., a distributor in North Tonawanda, N.Y., has appointed Matthew D. Gudorf as president and chief managing officer, responsible for expanding the companys client base and service mix. A former executive of Safety-Kleen/Clean Harbors, he has 23 years of industry experience.
Ralph Beard has joined additive maker Functional Products Inc. as director of corporate development and special projects. Previously with Dorf Ketal, Beard has deep industry experience that includes operating his own lube additive and component distribution company. He also chairs the advisory board of Auburn Universitys undergraduate program in tribology and lubrication science, which he worked to initiate.
At Evonik Oil Additives in Darmstadt, Germany, Katrin Schoeller recently became engine oil lab manager. In this role, she leads Evoniks ongoing efforts to develop new product technology for formulating next-generation engine oils.
Joseph Huntley has been hired as a formulation scientist in the R&D department at Hydrotex, which makes and distributes high-performance lubricants. Holding a bachelors in chemical engineering from Ohio State, he will focus on formulating fluid products including gear oils, hydraulic fluids and specialties.
Marc Nolen has been named director of corporate operations for Dover Chemical, which he joined in 1996. He is responsible for operational efficiency, order fulfillment, strategic initiatives, employee safety and regulatory compliance, including for its sites in Dover, Ohio, and Hammond, Ind. Also at Dover, Mick Jakupca was named director of research and development, leading R&D and technical support, developing and enhancing products, and managing intellectual property. He has been with Dover since 1995.
RSC Bio Solutions, which supplies high-performance, readily biodegradable lubricants and cleaners, recently added Richard Day as market manager, Europe. Day brings more than 30 years of experience in the oil and specialty chemicals industries, including with Lubrizol in the U.K. and Saudi Arabia, and most recently as commercial and operations director at Vickers Oils.
Correction
A typographical error in our August article Asia: All Over the Map put the population of Australia at 127 million. The continent has fewer than 25 million people.