Lube Report 7 May 2014

May 7, 2014

Volume 14 Issue 19

Lukoil Tables Base Oil Upgrades By Tim Sullivan • May 7, 2014 Lukoil tabled plans to upgrade its base oil plants, in deference to a growing oversupply of API Group III oils. “Better to be a [base oil] buyer in a buyer’s market,” LLK-International General Director Maxim Donde said last week. Read More Cam2 Buys Shell Plant, Relocates By Joe Beeton • May 7, 2014 Cam2 International purchased a Vicksburg, Miss., blending and packaging plant from Shell that will produce over 100 million gallons of finished lubricants per year and serve as its new corporate headquarters. Read More Russian PAO Output to Restart by 2016 By Boris Kamchev • May 7, 2014 Tatneft and Nizhnekamskneftekhim expressed readiness to resume polyalphaolefin and finished oil production at their joint venture’s idled plant in Nizhnekamsk, Tatneft told Lube Report. Read More Q1 Earnings Wrap Up By George Gill • May 7, 2014 Fuchs Petrolub and Ashland’s Valvoline business each posted increases in first quarter profits and sales compared to year-earlier numbers. Heritage-Crystal Clean reported an increase in sales and a first quarter operating loss. Chemtura’s petroleum additives segment’s first quarter net sales were up from a year earlier. Read More What's the Future of Food Lubes? By Richard Beercheck • May 7, 2014 The food-grade lubricants industry can help address concerns about mineral oil hydrocarbons getting into food by developing clear global regulations and fast, affordable test methods, a speaker said at the European Lubricating Grease Institute’s annual meeting in Croatia. Read More Briefly Noted May 7, 2014 Colin Abraham is now Shell’s Americas vice president for lubricants and downstream LNG, replacing Istvan Kapitany, who was tapped as global executive vice president for fuels.  Vertex Energy completed the first of two closings related to its $50 million acquisition of Omega Holdings Co.’s rerefining assets, with a second expected in the third quarter.  U.K.-based lubricants data provider Oats Ltd. appointed Richard Carney as chief operating officer.  Lubrication Technologies acquired the lubricants business of St. Paul, Minn.-based Yocum Oil. Read More Base Oil Reports U.S. Base Oil Price Report Dwindling supply and potential product shortages appear to be of high concern to U.S. base oil buyers at the moment. The situation has been brought on by recent, ongoing and upcoming turnarounds, coupled with healthy spring demand.–by Gabriela Wheeler Read More EMEA Base Oil Price Report May 1 holidays created a vacuum in the already muddling EMEA base oil markets.–by Ray Masson Read More SSY Base Oil Shipping Report Deep sea markets from Europe are under pressure, freight rates look weaker on almost every trade lane out of the U.S., and Asia markets were quiet due to Golden Week holidays.–by Adrian Brown Read More