ConocoPhillips advised its marketers today of a price increase on finished lubricant taking effect on August 27th. The increase will bump prices up as much as 16% depending on the product.

As with most increases, marketers are told this one is driven by the recent increases in the cost for base oil, additives, and packaging.

On July 22 JobbersWorld reported that Castrol announced a revision to the price increase it previously announced on June 18th that was due to take effect on August 4 and the revision will move Castrol up as much as 26%.

As a point of clarification, this price increase does not apply to Castrol Industrial lubricants. The Last announced price increase for Castrol Industrial lubricants was on June 18th. Castrol Industrial announced at that time there would be an increase of 5 to 15% effective July 1, 2008 on its industrial lubricants.

Ashland Inc. today announced preliminary net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, the third quarter of its fiscal year, of $72 million, or $1.13 per share. In the prior-year June quarter, net income was $100 million, or $1.58 per share.

Specific to its Valvoline division, Ashland's announcement says Valvoline's third-quarter operating income of $26.1 million compares with $27.9 million in the year-ago quarter, a 6-percent decline. Sales and operating revenues of $428 million increased 5 percent over the June 2007 quarter, largely due to price increases.

Valvoline's total lubricant volume increased 1 percent, primarily from the Do-It-For-Me installer channel and international sales, partially offset by reduced volumes in the Do-It-Yourself channel. Gross profit as a percent of sales declined 1.2 percentage points versus the 2007 June quarter, primarily a result of the lag in timing of price increases to customers relative to base oil and additive cost increases received by Valvoline.

Valvoline launched a national advertising campaign this month that takes on competitor Mobil 1, claiming Valvoline SynPower has "four times better wear protection than Mobil 1."

According to Valvoline, the claim is based on the industry standard Sequence IVA test. The Sequence IVA is the industry standard test for determining wear performance of an engine oil and is required to meet the API SL and SM requirements. Multiple tests showed that Valvoline SynPower provided four times better wear protection than Mobil 1, as measured in these tests of 5W-30 grades.

"We stand behind the ASTM standard tests completed recently at our own fully certified engine testing laboratory and at an independent laboratory," said Valvoline Marketing Director John Stotz. "Consumers tell us it is wear protection that matters most to them," he said.

Key to Valvoline's anti-wear chemistry is its zinc/phosphorus additive known as ZDDP. Increasingly lower levels of phosphorus in motor oil have been the subject of concern to automotive enthusiasts. SynPower's low volatility ZDDP formulation causes the phosphorus to stay in the oil longer, according to Valvoline Technical Director Thom Smith. Phosphorous bonds to metal parts in the engine to form a 'sacrificial' layer that helps protect against engine wear, Smith said.

Valvoline advertising includes print, radio and on-line banner ads.

JobbersWorld Note: Gearhead forums and blogs are already buzzing about the Valvoline Claim. Also, it's interesting to hear marketers already dropping the "wear protection" from the claim and simply saying it's "four times better."

ExxonMobil says it's aware of Valvoline's advertising claims that Valvoline SynPower offers four times better wear protection than Mobil 1.

At the same time, however, its says ExxonMobil is "not aware of any accurate technical data to support the claim" Moreover, they have requested Valvoline to provide the "substantiating data to support this claim immediately."

Stay Tuned....This should be interesting.

JobbersWorld is all about issues impacting lubricant distributors. You are our primary audience and you are the ones we need to hear from. What's on your mind? What issues would you like to see us tackle? And what news would you like others to know about?

• News
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Promotions
• New products
• Classified

We reach out to nearly 10,000 participants in the lubricant distribution supply chain once or twice a week (depending on what's NEWS) and we tell it like it is.

Please contact us via e-mail at tom_glenn@jobbersworld.com, or direct at 732-494-0405.