It has been another shockingly quiet week in most areas of the world. Many were surprised by the United Kingdoms vote to leave the European Union, and the resulting uncertainty has unsettled most markets. U.S. Gulf The last bits of June space to the Far East finally filled, but there is still quite a bit of July space outstanding, and the market has not been that busy over the past week. However, the very latest news is that following the Brexit vote, styrene prices have risen quite considerably...

China, North America and Europe were the top grease manufacturers in 2015, representing 71 percent of worldwide production, according to results from the National Lubricating Grease Institutes Grease Production Survey Report. Global production fell 3.3 percent last year. Companies participating in the project – deemed the worlds most comprehensive survey of global grease production – reported producing 2.48 billion pounds (1.1 million metric tons) of greases in 2015. China was by far...

The Toxic Substances Control Act reform legislation signed into law June 22 makes significant changes to the United States rules on registration and risk evaluation of substances, creating a new regulatory landscape for the lubricants industry and others that work with large numbers of chemicals. The first major re-write of the 40-year-old law also carries a number of specific impacts for the lubes industry. It does not prevent the Environmental Protection Agencys from continuing on a course to ...

Russian police raided a facility in southern Moscow that allegedly was producing counterfeit motor oils, according to the citys ministry of internal affairs. The police discovered a counterfeited motor oil of a popular brand, the ministry said in a news release yesterday, after the raid. In the facility we found 15 filled 208-liter canisters with labels of an international motor oil brand and 146 more labeled empty barrels, canisters and bulk containers of various sizes. The brand was not disclo...

One person was killed and four others injured by an explosion last week at a metalworking fluids and chemicals complex operated by Ivhimprom in Ivanovo, Russia, according to the Emergency Situation Ministry for Ivanovo Oblast. The June 23 accident was triggered by a sudden decompression in a gas compressor unit, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry for Ivanovo Oblast reported. All of those injured were employees of Ivhimprom, one of the oldest chemicals producers in Russia. At least some of...