In a letter dated March 29, 2018 to its customers TOTAL Specialties USA announced a price increase of 3 to 5% for most branded lubricant products effective April 30, 2018. TOTAL attributed the increase as a result of the escalation and costs of base oils, additives and other materials used in the manufacturing of lubricants.
In a letter dated April 4, 2018, Shell (SOPUS) said it will implement a price increase of up to 10% on finished lubricants effective May 7, 2018. The company said that in certain instances, the effective date and/or the amount of the price change may fall outside of these parameters. SOPUS attributed this adjustment as due in part to increasing costs of raw materials used in the production and delivery of its products.
Total Specialties USA's previous most recent price increases was announced on January 26, 2018 of 4 to 8% effective February 26, 2018. Shell's previous most recent price increases was announced on January 15, 2018 of up to 5% effective February 19, 2018.
In addition, refiner/marketer Phillips 66 last Thursday announced a price increase of up to 10% on its finished lubricants effective May 14, 2018. Phillips 66 attributed the increase to the rising costs of the production and delivery of its products. The company's previous most recent price increase was announced on January 25, 2018, an increase of up to 5% effective March 5, 2018.
The previous week, Chevron announced a general price increase of all lubricating oils and greases up to 10% effective on May 7th, 2018. Chevron stated this increase is due to increasing costs of raw materials impacting the manufacturing of its products.
And during the prior week, in a letter dated March 22, 2018, ExxonMobil announced that its branded and unbranded PVL, CVL, IND, Marine & Aviation lubricants and greases will increase in price by up to 10 percent effective April 23, 2018, stating that different price treatment may apply to selected products.
Chevron's and ExxonMobil's previous most recent price increases were both announced on January 22, a general price increase of all lubricating oils and greases up to 5% effective on March 1, 2018 by Chevron and an increase on its branded and unbranded Passenger Vehicle Lubricants, Commercial Vehicle Lubricants, Industrial and Marine lubricants and greases by up to 6% effective February 26, 2018 by ExxonMobil.
Independent marketer Nu-Tier Brands announced on March 28, 2018 a general increase of 6% to 8% on all its finished lubricants effective April 16, 2018. Nu-Tier attributed the adjustment to the increasing costs of raw materials and manufacturing.
During the past several weeks, many independent oil blenders/marketers, including Royal Manufacturing, Martin Lubricants, Warren Distribution, Maverick Performance Products Sunbelt Lubricants, Reliance Fluid Technologies, Allegheny Petroleum, Chemlube, Advanced Lubrication Specialties, Sunoco, Cam2 International, Smitty's Supply, Pinnacle Oil, Sinclair Lubricants and Omni Specialty Packaging announced fished lubricant price increases.