The U.S. market is on a more even keel, with a few routes even showing strength. European short-sea business has been active, but deep-sea has been slow. Asia is mixed, with some routes up and others down. U.S. Gulf Rates to the Far East continue to trend upwards on the back of healthy demand and a limited number of July positions in the U.S. Gulf. Styrene is again leading the charge. Traders have been attempting to keep rates under $50 per metric ton for 5,000-ton parcels, but owners are pressi...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency entered into consent orders that allow three companies to manufacture and import a wide range of chlorinated paraffin substances, including medium-, long- and very long-chain CPs. This represents a sharp change in direction from the Obama administration. In 2015, the EPA said it was taking steps to ban medium- and long-chain CPs as early as 2016 using its authority under the Toxic Substance Control Act. That alarmed CP manufacturers, who said elimination ...

BOSTON – At last weeks semiannual gathering of ASTM Committee D2, both the Passenger Car Engine Oil and Heavy Duty Engine Oil Classification Panels met here to discuss the status of key industry specifications, starting with the much-delayed ILSAC GF-6 passenger car engine oil upgrade. At the PCEOCP, much of the discussion covered new and legacy engine tests needed to support ILSAC GF-6. It was clear from the meeting that the earliest marketers could license these engine oils would be July...

MOSCOW – Russian demand for motor oils used by on-road vehicles stagnated the past couple years but is projected to make a slow recovery in 2017, according to a domestic consultancy predicted recently. Addressing an industry conference last month, an official from Autostat said demand has also been flat in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. On-road vehicles in Russia – including passenger cars, light commercial, heavy duty and busses – consumed a total of 435 million liters of motor oils ...

Specialty chemicals company Tiarco is expanding its Dalton, Georgia, chemical production facility, which makes various component chemicals used to manufacture lubricants, the company announced Monday. Construction on the facility began during the first quarter of 2017 and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of next year. The project will increase the plants production capacity by roughly 40 percent and expand, according to a press release. Company officials were unable to provide f...

Specialty chemicals manufacturer DuBois Chemicals acquired Blue Star Lubrication Technology, an industrial lubricants provider, the company announced late last month. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. DuBois currently supplies specialty chemicals to the manufacturing and transportation industry is North America. Schaumburg, Illinois-based Blue Star focuses on the metalworking, steel, cement and automotive industries. This acquisition marks the addition of high performance lubri...