Last Tuesday, the Asian Lubricant Manufacturers Union officially launched with the inaugural meeting of its general membership in Macao, Southern China. The ALMU is an Asia-wide organization representing the combined knowledge and expertise of lubricant manufacturers throughout East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania regions.

Calumet reported adjusted EBITDA of $60.1 million for the fourth quarter 2017, a significant improvement compared to $27.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. FUCHS reported revenues for 2017 increased by 9% or EUR 206 million to a new record of EUR 2.5 billion. FUCHS posted EUR 269 million in earnings after tax for 2017, up 3.5 percent from 2016.

Valvoline last Wednesday introduced Valvoline™ Premium Blue One Solution™ 9200, a "universal" fleet engine oil approved for use in natural gas, API CK-4 diesel and API SN gas fleet engines. It meets the new Cummins CES 20092 natural gas engine spec, CES 20086, CES 20085, Mack EOS-4.5, Volvo VDS-4.5, and Detroit Diesel DFS 93K222 specs.

Last week, Allegheny Petroleum, Chemlube, Advanced Lubrication Specialties and Sunoco announced finished lubricant price increases in the range of 4% to 9%.  The previous week, Cam2 International, Smitty's Supply and Pinnacle Oil announced finished lubricant price increases in the range of  4% and 10%.

UPS announced it plans to deploy 50 plug-in electric delivery trucks that will provide nearly 400% fuel efficiency improvement and be comparable in acquisition cost to conventional-fueled trucks without any subsidies – an industry first. The company is collaborating with Workhorse Group to design the vehicles from the ground up, with zero tailpipe emissions.

• Chevron Oronite Introduces PARATONE 8935E
• Valvoline Introduces Low-Speed Pre-Ignition Protection Across Motor Oil Portfolio
• Ingevity Completes Acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s Pine Chemicals Business
• Jennifer Altstadt Appointed as President of Sea-Land Chemical
• Quaker Chemical Posts $9.8 Million Net Loss for 4Q 2017