Industry consultant Geeta S. Agashe, president of Geeta Agashe & Associates LLC, believes the decision may positively impact Calumet. Killing off weaker or ill-fitting brands in their portfolio frees Calumet to focus its resources on the stronger remaining brands to position them more effectively, she said in an interview. Agashe predicts the companys supply chain efficiencies will increase as a result.

George Morvey, an industry manager at Kline & Co.s energy practice also believes the change should benefit Calumet. I only see upside potential for Bel-Ray and its product lines. The rebranding, when its complete and customers are fully engaged, should pay dividends to Calumet in the form of higher product volumes, said Morvey.

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He believes the companys biggest hurdle will be distributing and gaining access to places where PCMOs are sold in large volume, such as quick lube stores and car dealership service departments.

Neither Morvey nor Agashe believes this will have a significant effect on the overall lubricants market.

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The products are scheduled for release during this years third quarter and the first quarter of 2018. Bel-Ray opted for a tiered release of the various product lines to facilitate a rolling change of inventory as well as take advantage of the availability of our new packaging, Debbie Neubauer, Indianapolis-based Calumets vice president of marketing, said in an interview.

All products will be manufactured in either the companys New Jersey or Louisiana facilities. Neubauer noted there will be changes to the finished lubricant formulation of some products, but declined to give specific details.

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