Gearing Up for DCT Growth
Dual clutch transmissions could account for up to 10 percent of global automotive demand by 2015, so lube manufacturers need to prepare for this coming shift in automotive technology. That’s one lesson out of a recent webcast hosted by SAE International’s Automotive Engineering magazine.
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BASF Calls Force Majeure at MA Plant
BASF on Friday declared force majeure at its 115,000 metric tons per year maleic anhydride facility in Feluy, Belgium, in response to a strike by workers protesting plans to close the plant.
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Fuel Economy vs. Drain Intervals
Automakers will need to make significant improvements in fuel economy in coming years. Lubricants can help, boosting average fuel economy, a Lubrizol official told the UEIL conference last week, but oil drain intervals may need to be shortened.
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Mixed Q3 Results
Diverse companies reported diverse results, with additives manufacturer Afton Chemical and lubricant supplier Quaker Chemical each reporting an increase in net profit in the third quarter, while base oil refiner S-Oil saw a decrease, all compared to the year-earlier quarter.
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Steam Spurs Lube Oil Explosion
A 23 cubic meter (about 6,000 gallon) container of industrial lube oils exploded Sunday afternoon at an SATI container depot in Umbogintwini, South Africa, causing a fire that took three hours to bring under control.
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Briefly Noted
Strongsville, Ohio-based industrial lubricants manufacturer Wallover Oil acquired the assets of Greendale,
Wis.-based metalworking fluids maker Larson
Chemical for an undisclosed amount… Delek
Israel signed a marine lubricants partnership agreement with Hong
Kong-based Gulf Oil Marine as part
of the Sealub Alliance … Safety-Kleen signed Madison, Wis.-based
Perkins Oil to market EcoPower
recycled motor oil in portions of Wisconsin and Illinois.
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U.S. Base Oil Price Report
High crude values prompted a number of U.S. base oil producers to issue price hike announcements this week. Increases of 25 cents per gallon to 30 cents/gal have been proposed for both paraffinic and naphthenic cuts, with effective dates commencing next week.
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Europe-MidEast-Africa Base Oil Price Report
After the last ten days of positive crude and product rises, the traditional base oil stand-off appears to be in progress with loud shouts of increasing prices from producers, but with little evidence of new deals to show that they mean business. Buyers are still able to purchase at marginally higher costs, far less than the percentage gains attributed to crude and feedstocks.
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SSY Base Oil Shipping Report
Adrian Brown is away this week.
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