Volume 16 Issue 34

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

The week was agonizingly slow in parts of Europe and Asia. The United States rush of last-minute fixing to Asia was insufficient to stop rates from sliding further, but the great clear-out of tonnage from the Gulf Coast might just have stopped the rot. U.S. Gulf In some ways, it has been an interesting week on the U.S. Gulf-to-Asia service. It turned out there was actually quite a lot of material available for August loading, with the catalyst being the freight market. Once freight reached a cer...

Diesel Engine Oil Oxidation Test Adopted

As a part of the new API CK-4 and FA-4 heavy-duty diesel oil categories, a newly proposed ASTM International test standard (WK52873) has been introduced – the first oxidation test in the United States to run on diesel. The Volvo T-13 Engine Test Method for Evaluation of Diesel Engine Oils will be used to evaluate oxidation performance characteristics. The ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants developed the method with support from ASTM Internationals Test M...

Growth Forecast for Transformer Oils

The global transformer oil market will grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 9 percent from 2016 to 2020, with mineral-based oils continuing to dominate, a market research firm projected. Silicone and biobased transformer oils are expected to grow at slightly faster rates while remaining smaller shares of the market. The study estimates are based on the demand for transformer oil from power and distribution transformers worldwide. United Kingdom-based Technavio Research said that 90 percent o...

Mixed Results for BASF

BASFs performance products segment reported higher income from operations for the second quarter, while income from operations was down for its chemicals segment, compared to year-earlier results. The companys performance products segment posted 486 million in income from operations in the second quarter, up 32 percent. The chemicals segment was down 15 percent at 467 million. Sales in the performance products segment declined by 6 percent to 3.8 billion (U.S. $4.3 billion). A drop in prices was...

Participation in European Quality System Rises

During the first six months of this year, 22 lubricant marketing companies signed a letter of conformance to confirm compliance with the European Engine Lubricants Quality Management Systems requirements, compared to 26 in the previous 12 months. ATIEL, the European lubricants industrys technical association, administers the system on behalf of the automobile, lubricant and lubricant additive segments. New signatories in 2016 include lubricant companies based in Argentina, China, Israel, Saudi A...

Briefly Noted

A-76 Technologies, Inc. changed its name to Aidant Brands and rebranded its lubricants and coatings from A-76 to Rust Patrol. Gulf Petrochem Group, the United Arab Emirates-headquartered maker of Ipol lubricants, will distribute the brand in the U.A.E. and Oman through five-year partnerships with U.A.E.s NGC Energy and Omans National Gas Co. SAOG, which both aim at delivering 1,200 metric tons of lubes per year in their respective markets. Chemtura Corp. contractedCanoil Canada Ltd. to sell its G-1000 and G-2000 branded greases in Canada.

Editor's Note

Beginning this week, news articles in Lube Report will include live links for companies listed in the Lubricants Industry Directory, LubesnGreases list of suppliers in the global lubes industry. LubesnGreases offers both free and paid listings in the directory. For information about listing a company, contact Web & Data Products Managing Editor Michele Persaud at mpersaud@LubesnGreases.com.