Finished Lube Prices Slide
With prices for crude and base oil dropping, distributors of
finished lubricants have been asking, “When’s the other shoe going to drop for
us?” The time may be now, as several major oil companies and independent
suppliers have informed customers of finished lubricant price cuts in recent
weeks, some as much as $1.30 per gallon.
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NPRA: Another Bum Quarter
U.S. lubricant sales volumes in the third quarter of this
year fell 10 percent compared to the same period in 2007, according to the
latest sales data from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. The
automotive manufacturing sector’s woes could be one likely cause, an industry
expert said.
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Americas Eye Base Oil Imports
Premium quality lubricants are gaining share in Latin America’s 3 million metric ton market, but base stock supply is not keeping up, the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lubricants Conference heard last week. The region’s current base oil deficit will continue as blenders look abroad to meet their needs.
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Polartech Picks Sea-Land
Sea-Land Chemical Co. has signed an agreement to distribute
Polartech’s Actrachem brand of specialty chemical additives in the Unites States,
including lubricant polymers for metalworking applications and lubricant additives
for metal process fluids.
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Foreign Firms Dominate Russian Lubes
Russian engine oil suppliers use different marketing strategies than their western counterparts, and some of their practices suggest locals are not ready to compete. That was the message from a market research firm that addressed a lubricant industry event in Moscow last month.
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Filipinos Seize Counterfeit Oils
Operatives from the Philippines’ Presidential Anti-Smuggling
Group and the Northern Police District Office confiscated about P50 million
(U.S. $1 million) of substandard automotive and industrial lubricants after a
raid of two warehouses Dec. 3, according to a report by the country’s state-run
news wire service.
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U.S. Base Oil Price Report
Flint Hills Resources stunned the market with news that it lowered its full line-up of API Group II base stock postings by 40 cents per gallon on Monday, Dec. 8. Calumet quickly joined in, chopping all its posted prices except bright stock by 30 to 40 cents/gal effective tomorrow.
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Europe/MidEast/Africa Base Oil Price Report
Festive times appear to be upon us, but in the base oil market it appears that there is little to be festive about. It would almost seem that producers and receivers alike have declared an armistice on negotiations for new business until after the holiday period.
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