The lack of ships in the U.S. still dictates how much or how little business actually gets done. Europe has been steady while Asias seen good demand for prompt space. U.S. Gulf There is almost no remaining March space on scheduled tonnage out of the U.S. Gulf. On routes to the Far East, one of the last ships was able to obtain $105 per metric ton for 5,000 tons of aromatics from the Mississippi River to the Yangtze River, illustrating the kind of premium that prompt space can command. Traders ar...

California this year began prohibiting the sale of engine oils and lubricants considered obsolete by American Petroleum Institute standards. The regulation outlaws sale of several specifications of oil previously permitted by the state, the newest being API SH. The bill makes amendments to various sections in the California Business and Professions Code regarding the sale and labeling of lubricant products. The law now requires that engine oils and lubricants meet, at minimum, one active API cla...

ExxonMobil and Shell each recently notified U.S. customers of modest cuts in finished lubricant prices, perhaps launching a round of markdowns that the customer chain has clamored for. In February, ExxonMobil informed customers of price decrease of up to 3 percent on branded and unbranded lubricants and greases effective Feb. 26. Photo: George Gill Finished lubricants have lagged behind the long slide in base stock prices, but two large marketers marked down lubes recently. On Jan. 25, Shell i...

Phillips 66 Lubricants announced it will eliminate two of its four lubricant brands – Conoco and 76 Lubricants – and continue marketing oils under its Phillips 66 and Kendall labels. The U.S. fuel and lubricants supplier said it is taking the action, effective July 1, in order to ease confusion among its customers. The company has marketed lubricants under four brands since 2002, when Phillips 66 and Conoco merged to form ConocoPhillips. Before the merger, Phillips used the Phillips ...

LONDON – As the most developed lubricant market on its continent, South Africa is surging ahead with demand for higher-quality base stocks and synthetic lubricants, Samer Akram, director of operations for Unichem, reported during a recent industry event. South Africa boasts a well-established and mature industrial and manufacturing hub that follows European and international standards, Akram told attendees of the ICIS World Base Oils and Lubricants Conference here last month. The future of...

Shell plans to close a lubricants blending plant on the west coast of Trinidad – an island in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, just northeast of South America – by June, saying the facility has been unable to remain profitable in the current market. Following a significant regional portfolio review, Shell has decided to cease operations in June this year, or earlier, Shell spokesman Curtis Smith told Lube Report. We will then prepare the facility for sale over the following months. Sm...

Nynas reported a sharp decrease in operational cash flow for its naphthenic unit, Clean Harbors made less money from rerefined and blended products, and Quaker Chemicals net income was down, all in the fourth quarter, compared to the year-earlier quarter. Nynas Nynas naphthenic business unit, which supplies mostly base oils, reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 180 million Swedish krona (U.S. $21 million) for the quarter ending Dec. 31, down 48.4 percent fro...