Milacron Files for Chapter 11
Milacron has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in
the United States and Canada, part of a restructuring in which two current
investors would boost Milacron with $40 million in new funds and later purchase
all of its assets. The bankruptcy process will still require Milacron to sell
its assets to the highest bidder.
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Shell Harburg Is for Sale
Royal Dutch Shell confirmed March 12 that its base oil plant in Harburg, Germany, is for sale along with the surrounding refinery, contrary to an article that appeared in the first edition of this March 11 issue of Lube Report.
[FULL STORY]
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More Vie for Bite of Oil-change Pie
Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express topped all the oil change lists with 2,515 total U.S. stores, bypassing Jiffy Lube’s 1,999 outlets and reflecting the growing number of companies adding quick oil changes to their services, according to the National Oil & Lube News’ 2009 Tops in the Industry Ranking.
[FULL STORY]
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Dow Acquires Rohm and Haas
Dow described its acquisition of Rohm and Haas as an $18.8 billion transaction which resolved Rohm and Haas’ litigation against Dow and makes Dow the largest specialty chemicals company in the United States.
[FULL STORY]
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EU Favors Rerefining Used Oil
The European Union’s new Waste Directive strongly favors rerefining used oil over burning for energy recovery, and as a result, rerefined base oils could meet nearly a quarter of Europe’s base oil demand by 2020.
[FULL STORY]
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Canadian Lube Firms Partner
Coastal Blending and Packaging will distribute Commonwealth
Oil’s metalworking fluids, electric discharge machining products, food grade lubes and cleaners in Eastern Canada under an agreement announced March 5.
[FULL STORY]
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Dow, Oxea Raise Solvents Prices
Dow Chemical and Oxea each announced price hikes last week
for a variety of solvents.
[FULL STORY]
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U.S. Base Oil Price Report
As posted U.S. base oil prices rolled into their fifth straight week of stationary status, suppliers report a notable uptick in demand. However, year-to-date 2009 sales are still 35 to 45 percent below the same period last year.
[FULL STORY]
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Europe-MidEast-Africa Base Oil Price Report
Could prices in the base oil market be on the turn? There have been reports this week of producers around the region maintaining and even trying to increase prices by some $30 or $40 per metric ton for certain base oil grades.
[FULL STORY]
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SSY Base Oil Shipping Report
Cargoes continue to flow into Asia from the United States and Europe, and the transatlantic routes remain buoyant, but elsewhere it has been a steady if uninspiring week. In Asia, the list of open ships grows longer and longer, and we see freights from this region continuing to soften.
[FULL STORY]
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