Asia has seen the year-end rush, but Europe and the U.S. havent to the same extent, as specific routes have undoubtedly been very busy while others just had another normal week. U.S. Gulf The route into Asia continues to receive plenty of interest for remaining December space, but there is virtually nothing left, forcing much of the demand back into January. Yet rates continue to rise, although they are still some 10 percent to 20 percent lower than at this time last year, underscoring the lack ...

ORLANDO, Florida – ILSAC GF-6, the passenger car engine oil upgrade now under development, has slipped behind schedule again and may not get its commercial launch until May 2019, a meeting here heard last week. The Auto-Oil Advisory Panel, meeting alongside ASTM Committee D2 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants, heard that the new Sequence IIIH for wear and oil thickening, based on a Chrysler Pentastar engine, has completed its test matrix, but the ballot for acceptance by ASTM was withdra...

The concept of business sustainability – which has gained increasing traction in recent years – is beginning to take shape for the lubricant industry in Europe. A group of German companies is developing a standard specifically to evaluate sustainability of lubricant suppliers, and the Union of the European Lubricants Industry (UEIL) board of directors is scheduled next month to consider joining the effort. An individual at the center of the German initiative said lubricant companies ...

Russian oil major Gazprom Neft said Monday it will set up new lubricants production in Western or Central Europe to reduce the growing volumes being shipped from Russia. In my opinion, we really need additional lubricant blending capacity in Europe as we expand overseas rapidly, said Alexandr Trukhan, head of Gazpromneft-Lubricants. The company is now working on the preliminary plans of the project, and the final decision on the plants location and capacity will be ready by mid-2017. The company...

Mount Meru plans to open three blending plants, and Mogas will launch one larger blending facility over the next two years in several countries in East Africa, according to industry sources. Chelan Jain, managing director for Mount Meru in Zambia, told Lube Report it will begin lubricant blending in Lusaka, Zambia in June 2017, and in Tanzania and Rwanda in 2018. These blending plants will each have a production capacity of 2,000 metric tons per year. Ashish Goyal, managing director for Mogas in...

Laboratory and research and development managers reap the rewards for providing the formulations that keep a lubricants business going, averaging $133,800 in compensation this year, an exclusive survey conducted by LubesnGreases magazine found. Fifty-nine laboratory and technical managers answered the confidential 2016 Lubricants Industry Salary Survey, all working for lube manufacturers. With a different pool of respondents from the previous survey two years ago, direct comparisons cant be draw...

Heritage-Crystal Clean Founder, President and CEO Joe Chalhoub will retire effective Jan. 31, 2017, the company announced last week. Chalhoub will be succeeded by Brian Recatto, who has served Heritage as a director for the past four years and was named lead director earlier this year. Chalhoub, who was a former head of Safety-Kleens oil recovery division, founded Heritage-Crystal Clean in Elgin, Illinois, in 1999. Heritages Indianapolis rerefinery began base oil production in early 2012 and now...