Places’n’Faces

ExxonMobil sent notice it would decrease prices by up to 3.5 percent on branded and unbranded lubricants and greases effective Feb. 2. By contrast, prices for aviation products would go up on Feb. 16, it said in a letter to customers, due to factors impacting the market for aviation lubricants. The aviation lube price increases range from $1 per gallon to $2.60/gal on six jet oils; $2.20/gal to $4.75/gal on four aviation hydraulic fluids; and are 30 cents per pound on three aviation greases.

Phillips 66 Lubricants told customers it would drop posted prices up to 4.5 percent for most of its finished lubricants, also Feb. 2.

In other reported pricing actions:

Citgo informed customers it was reducing prices for the Citgo, Mystik and MileMaster lubricant brands up to 5 percent, effective Jan. 16.

Shell notified customers of a price decrease of up to 3.5 percent, effective Jan. 19.

Valvoline advised it would cut prices by up to 3.5 percent effective Feb. 2.

Castrol said it would reduce prices up to 3.5 percent on some of its passenger car, commercial and ancillary products, effective Feb. 16.

The Oscar Goes to Lukoil

Launched Jan. 8 from the Daewoo Shipbuilding in South Korea, the MSC Oscar is the largest container ship ever built, measured by container capacity. It holds the equivalent of 19,224 twenty-foot units. Lukoil Marine Lubricants was selected to supply lubricants for the vessel, and also equipped Oscar with its Icolube cylinder oil lubrication unit, which continually adjusts the oils and additives to optimize engine performance under varying fuel sulfur regimes. Lukoil says its lubricants and lubrication system will also be aboard Oscars sister, the MSC Oliver, launching in April.

Oronite Continues Building

Chevron Oronite has a lot on its drawing board: It plans to double detergent capacity at its plant in Gonfreville, France, build a carboxylate production facility at its Singapore plant, and also upgrade and expand in Belle Chasse, La.

On Jan. 12 the San Ramon, Calif.-based chemical additive maker announced completion of a detergent production expansion at Gonfreville, a project that it initiated in October 2013. The facility can now produce more carboxylates and overbased sulfonate, which Oronite sells as supplemental detergents in additive packages.

It now will add carboxylate production to its recently expanded Singapore additives plant. Due for completion in 2017, this move will double the companys worldwide carboxylate capacity. And at Belle Chasse, Oronite expects to have expanded production by the end of 2016, in time for the introduction of new engine oil categories for passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks. Upgrades at Belle Chasse will include new and repurposed tankage, new piping, advanced blending capabilities, new mechanical equipment and new instrumentation.

The company did not disclose costs or volumes of the expansion projects, but Jirong Xiao, vice president of sales and marketing, noted that Oronite has not undertaken a larger series of investments since 1999.

Forecast: Boom for Metalworking Fluids

Frost & Sullivan estimates the global metalworking fluids market will reach $12.1 billion in revenue in 2020, up 37.5 percent from $8.8 billion in 2013, driven by booming end-user markets, especially in Asia. The findings are in the market research firms recently published, Analysis of the Global Metalworking Fluids Market.

Asia was the biggest regional market in 2013, with 39.9 percent of global revenue, followed by North America with 28.8 percent, Frost & Sullivan research associate Srinivas Venkatesan told Lube Report. Major drivers for growth include rising industrial production in China, India, Russia, Turkey, Brazil and Southeast Asia; regulations on wastewater treatment and disposal; and users desires to optimize the use of mineral oil-based products. The latter will boost the use of semi-synthetic and synthetic metalworking fluids – and also spur sales of metalworking additives, as synthetic-based fluids require a stronger additive package.

Technologies that may crimp growth in metalworking fluids demand include minimum quantity lubrication, high pressure machining and near-net-shape casting, which could replace conventional metalworking processes, Venkatesan added.

Texas Plant for Allegheny

Allegheny Petroleum Products in mid-December opened a blending plant in Houston, initially producing fuel additives but soon to add lubricants. Barbara Kudis, vice president of the Wilmerding, Pa.-based company, said it purchased the property in early December and quickly had employees in place to get the new plant up and running. Terms were not disclosed.

We found a facility at a decent price and that had some usable equipment already there, she said. Allegheny put in additional equipment and is installing bigger tanks. The site has production capacity of about 3 million or 4 million gallons per year, Kudis said, which could double by the end of 2015.

Allegheny aims to blend industrial lubricants at the Houston plant. We have a lot of industrial customers, Kudis said. We have a fluid management program where we go and support a lot of our heavy manufacturing customers in their plants, and we often use other companies to help us support that. Now well have our own presence, and that will give us some benefit logistically, with the supply chain being in that region for the industrial side too.

Insights into Lubrication

Total Plant Lubrication is a seminar being hosted March 18 and 19 at Argonne National Laboratories by STLEs Chicago Section. The training is designed for maintenance professionals who have responsibility for lubricant selection, evaluation, safety and equipment reliability, and can also benefit those who develop, sell and service lubricants, says the course chairman, Lewis Rea of SGS Herguth. Participants will learn how to select lubricants based upon performance, assess equipment condition, and apply root-cause solutions to common lubrication issues. Topics include lubrication basics, filtration and contamination control, oil analysis and wear debris, safety data sheets, bearings, hydraulics, greases, transportation lubricants, fire-resistant fluids, used oil recycling, metalworking fluids and more.

Cost is only $375 (and $295 for STLE members), including lunches and continental breakfasts. Visit www.chicagostle.org for online registration and details regarding lodging, or e-mail Lewis Rea at vibeguy63@gmail.com. Note that non-U.S. citizens need to complete ANL-593 at least six to eight weeks before the seminar for Argonne security clearance.

Rerefiners: $0 for Used Oil

With base oil, crude and fuel prices plunging, several rerefiners have moved to cut their feedstock costs to zero. Clean Harbors announced Dec. 18 that its Safety-Kleen rerefining business is eliminating its pay-for-oil program, replacing it with either a zero-pay or charge-for-oil rate structure. On Dec. 19, rerefiner and used oil collector Vertex Energy said it would move to a service fee model for collection of used motor oil and environmental services starting in 2015.

Given the adverse conditions in the base oil marketplace and current energy market dynamics, we are taking proactive action to further reduce costs associated with the procurement, transportation and processing of used oil, Safety-Kleen President Jerry Correll said in a news release. Our new zero-pay and charge-for-oil policy will apply to all U.S. and Canadian used oil generators that Safety-Kleen services.

Vertex said it had reduced the price it pays for internally collected used motor oil by more than 50 percent since September, and it is resetting third-party oil purchases to reflect market conditions.

Another rerefiner also views this stance as necessary to the industrys health. We firmly agree that the oil price should go to zero (or charge), Avista Oil USAs CEO Juan Fritschy told Lube Report. This reflects the new balance of the market. There is an abundance of used oil, and some generators are finding it difficult to find a collector to collect their oil. This trend is growing by the day. We think that, barring extraordinary events, the market will go to a charge-for-service market.

Not all agree. Eco-Maxx, a New York region used oil collector (and not a rerefiner), stated it would maintain its pay-for-oil model. Steve Larkin, director of sales there, acknowledged that crude oil futures have significantly devalued used motor oil. But we all know crude oil is volatile, Larkin said in a news release. While we are certainly concerned about the recent trends in oil futures, we do not feel the need to charge for oil pick up.

Last Call for NLGI Papers

Technical and marketing papers are sought for presentation at the upcoming NLGI 82nd annual meeting, June 6 to 9 in Coeur dAlene, Idaho. With the events theme of Digging into Grease Lubrication, topics related to mining equipment are especially encouraged, but papers covering any aspect of grease chemistry, formulation, testing and manufacturing are welcome. Authors will also have the opportunity to have their papers peer-reviewed and published in the prestigious NLGI Spokesman.

NLGI also has set aside a limited number of exclusive time slots for commercial presentations. This popular marketing option carries a fee, and is allotted on a first-come first-serve basis. Details: www.nlgi.org/call-for-papers

Recoil Reborn as Tecoil

Finlands sole rerefinery, opened in 2009 and formerly owned by L&T Recoil Oy and EcoStream, is back in operation under new owner: STR Tecoil Ltd.

We are up and running, Tecoil Development Director Pekko Kohonen told Lube Report last month. The rerefinery will handle 70,000 metric tons of used lubricants annually for an output of 50,000 tons per year of base oils. It can produce four API Group II+ rerefined base oil cuts: N40, N100, N150 and N200, as well as gas oils and bitumen flux.

Industrial Finance Finland STR Ltd. purchased the Hamina, Finland, rerefinery in late July 2014 for an undisclosed amount, through an agreement with the rerefiners bankruptcy estate.

Briefly Noted

Lonza has appointed KODA Distribution Group to represent its functional chemicals, including products sold under the Acrawax, Glycolubes, Glycosperse and Lonzest brand names. KODAs Monson business already distributes Lonzas biocides, and now adds these new products to its portfolio of offerings for the lubricants market.

Shells new GTL base oil hub, in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, made its first delivery of GTL base oil in late December. This is Shells fourth GTL base oil storage hub, joining ones in Houston, Hamburg and Hong Kong. It says the new addition completes the full global coverage of Shells supply of GTL base oil, opening links to lubricant plants spanning from Africa to India to China. So far the base oils are used exclusively in Shell products.

Total announced that it will build a grease plant at its lubricant factory in Tianjin, China. The new plant will have capacity to make 5,000 metric tons of grease per year and is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter.

Global demand for rubber process oils will grow at a cumulative average annual rate of 2.5 percent from 2013 through 2023, according to Kline & Co. The market research and consulting firm predicts Asia will have the fastest growth during that period – an average of 3.7 percent.

Emery Oleochemicals plans to fully commission in the second quarter a bio-polyol plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, that will make products for its biolubricants business.

Dow to Sell Angus

Dow Chemical agreed to sell Angus Chemical to private equity investment firm Golden Gate Capital, for $1.2 billion, in a deal expected to close in this quarter. Angus manufactures and distributes nitroalkanes and their derivatives, which are used as additives and intermediates in industries such as metalworking, oil and gas, water treatment and paints and coatings. They include a variety of primary amino alcohols and corrosion inhibitors marketed under the Corrguard brand and AEPD-85 primary amino alcohols used in water-dilutable metalworking fluids. (Primene specialty amines, used in certain corrosion inhibitors, are not part of the transaction, and will remain with Dow.)

Dow acquired Angus Chemical in 2000. The sale includes Angus headquarters and R&D facility in Buffalo Grove, Ill.; manufacturing facilities in Louisiana and Germany; a packaging facility in Niagara Falls, N.Y.; plus other business assets.

Faces in the News

Bryan Schorzman moved to join Motiva Enterprises in Houston as general manager, base oils, taking over Jan. 1 from Mike Lewis, who became Motivas chief procurement officer last year. Schorzman has worked in manufacturing, refining, chemicals and base oils during his 20-year career, and most recently was chemicals business manager at Shells Deer Park, Texas, operation. He holds a chemical engineering degree from Texas Tech, and an MBA from Louisiana State.

SK Lubricants has appointed YM Park to be chief managing officer of its newly formed global business growth office, reporting directly to its CEO. In this role, Park is responsible for exploring the Seoul, Korea-based lubricant companys future growth opportunities and options, such as capacity expansions, mergers and acquisitions, biobased ventures, and others. Also, the companys SK Lubricants Americas subsidiary has a new president, Tony Jin. Now in Houston, Jin most recently served as the global marketing team leader for SKs base oils. He has more than 20 years of marketing, planning and management experience in the lubricants, petroleum and marketing industries. He is a graduate of Yonsei University in Seoul as well as numerous management and leadership programs.

David Wright is the new director general of the U.K. Lubricants Association, taking over last month after the retirement of Rod Pesch. From sales and marketing positions with Mobil, Save Service Stations and Safeway, Wright moved into association management, focusing on marketing, membership and education. Most recently he served as assistant director of the U.K. Dept. of Education, responsible for teacher recruiting and training.

The Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers has welcomed two people to its headquarters staff: Gina Cairo is education programs assistant, working to support the societys education, membership and certification programs, and Rachel Fowler is associate editor of its monthly journal TLT, with responsibility for the magazines daily management.