By Khusro Khan
Chemtura announced an increase in prices for a range of petroleum additive products and a boost in production of its Synton brand of PAO products at its Elmira, Ontario, facility, while Kraton Polymers said it would raise prices for SBS-based polymers and compounds in North and South America.
Middlebury, Conn.-based Chemtura announced last week that effective June 1, it will increase prices by 10 percent on all sulfonates and finished greases, 5 percent on its Synton polyalphaolefin (PAO) products and Naugalube products, and between 10 to 45 percent on specialty antioxidants.
Sulfonates are used as corrosion inhibitors and emulsifiers in metalworking fluids. Naugalube is an antioxidant used in lubricants, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Lubes’n’Greases magazine estimated last year that capacity at Chemtura’s Elmira facility was 13,800 metric tons per year. Chemtura’s Vice President of Transportation Lubricants and Business Development Gerard Mulqueen cited confidentiality to Lube Report when asked for specifics about the PAO production increase, stating only that it is part of a multi-stage program. The company expects to complete the first phase in the second quarter of 2008.
Synton PAO is a high viscosity polymer used in automotive and industrial applications that can be used as a high viscosity synthetic oil or as a viscosity modifier for high-performance lubricant or synthetic lubricant formulations such as gear oils and engine oils. Chemtura produces the product only at its Elmira facility.
“[The increase] is due to current and future increase in market demand,” Mulqueen said.
Headquartered in Houston, Kraton announced that effective June 1, it will implement a general price increase of 15 cents per pound on SBS (styrene-butadiene-styrene block) based polymers and compounds. SBS polymers can be used in lubricants and other applications ranging from personal to paving.
Kraton attributes the price hike to cost increases associated with raw materials, energy and packaging costs.
