Volume 16 Issue 33

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

It has been a very quiet week all over – trade in both Europe and Asia remains thin, and even the U.S. market looks subdued. U.S. Gulf Trade not been very exciting into Asia and there has not been any base oils shipped for some time. A couple of cargoes of around 10,000-15,000 cubic meters of ethanol were booked from the U.S. Gulf to the Philippines and 5,000 tons of ethylbenzene was covered from Mississippi to the Far East. Otherwise, there have been noises about styrene, and it is very l...

U.S. Consumer Lube Demand to Dip

Demand for consumer automotive lubricants in the U.S. is expected to decline by a 0.8 percent compound annual growth rate from 2015 to 2020, consultancy Kline & Co. projected. The consumer automotive lubricants demand in any country is dependent on two factors – the rate at which the car park is growing or shrinking, and the frequency of oil changes, Sushmita Dutta, Klines project lead, energy, said during a webinar July 27. The frequency of oil changes in the U.S. market is decreasing...

Retail Prices for Motor Oil Edge Down

The average price per quart of motor oil in the U.S. automotive aftermarket industry declined 1 percent in the first six months of 2016, compared to a year earlier, according to retail sales data from NPD Group. There are a number of things going on with motor oil pricing, Nathan Shipley, director and automotive aftermarket industry analyst for NPD Group, told a reporter. Private label is gaining share, and the major brands continue to promote their products at deeper discounts. NPD found that t...

Petrobras Drops Assets in Latin America

Ongoing financial trouble has lead Brazils state-owned oil company Petrobras to divest lubricant operations in Chile and Argentina, including blending plants in both countries. Petrobras sold 100 percent of its assets in Petrobras Chile Distribution to private equity firm Southern Cross Group for U.S. $464 million. Petrobras operations in Chile included a blending plant in the capital of Santiago, 279 service stations and eight distribution terminals, according to a Petrobras press release. The ...

Cosan Lubricants Posts Net Loss

Lubricants manufacturer and distributor Cosan Lubricants reported a net loss and higher net revenue for the second quarter, compared to 2015s second quarter. The Brazilian company posted a 15.9 million Brazilian reais (U.S. $5.1 million) net loss for the quarter ended June 30, compared to 4.1 million reais net income a year earlier. Cosans net revenue from the sale of lubricants and other goods and services, and the resale of base oil, reached 489 million reais for the second quarter, up 15.3 pe...

Briefly Noted

Effective Sept. 1, Oxea will increase prices on NPG in North America by $70 per metric ton and 3 cents per pound. The chemical is used in synthetic lubricants. Houston-based bio-fluids company Accelergy Corp. and soy products producer Owensboro Grain LLC formed a joint venture that will make biobased esters, waxes, specialty solvents, lubricants and performance fluids. Amyris, Inc. received a multi-million dollar contract from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop cellulose-derived farnesene for biofuels and petroleum products such as base stocks.