ExxonMobil announced in a letter to its marketers last week that it will increase the prices for both Exxon and Mobil branded lubricants and greases by up to 15%, effective August 1, 2008. Also, Castrol has announced in a letter to its marketers dated June 18th that it will be increasing prices on its lubricants by as much as 20% effective August 4, 2008.

Last week, Dow Chemical announced that it will raise the price of its products by as much as an additional 25 percent in July in an effort to offset the continuing relentless rise in the cost of energy and hydrocarbon feedstocks. The company led the pack in recent chemical company price increases by announcing a 20 percent back on May 28.

Base oil industry participants met in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia during June 18-19 to discuss issues currently facing the market at the 2nd ICIS Asian Base Oils and Lubricants Conference. Asia has not only become the driving force behind growth in the base oils market, but is also swiftly becoming a major producing region indicated by a predicted 50% growth of base oil imports into China in 2008.

On Sunday June 29, 2008, Alvan Motor Freight, based in Kalamazoo, MI, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has gone out of business due to various factors including a downturn in the automotive industry, rising fuel prices, the three-month strike at auto parts supplier American Axle, and the overall economic conditions in the Midwest. The carrier, which began operations in 1941, employed 525 people in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and operated about 400 trucks and 800 trailers.

The Synthetic API GL-4 & GL-5 Gear Lubricants Cross Reference Chart is the 17th of a 21-chart series of the Third Edition of our Synthetic Lubricant Cross Reference Chart Series. This 21-set series consists of over 7,400 (fully) synthetic lubricants marketed by over 500 worldwide lube manufacturing & marketing companies and OEMs.